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TROTTING 

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TUFTS   UNIVERSITY   LIBRARIES 


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I 


Family  Librai y  a  Veieiinary  MedUMI 
School  of  y^'ermdT^  W\e(Scigmtk 

Tufis  University 
200  Westboro  Road 


A  SHORT  HISTORY 


OF  THE 


ifflnici  iRonif  m  picisG  house. 


WITH 


TABLES  OF  PEDIGREES  OF  FAMOUS  HORSES,  USEFUL  HINTS, 
SUGGESTIONS   AND   OPINIONS  ON    TRAINING  AND 
CONDITIONING    COMPILED    FROM  VARI- 
OUS    SOURCES,    RULES    FOR 
TRACK  LAYING,  Efc, 


HENRY  T.   COAXES 


THE  AMERICAN  TROTTING  TURF  IN  1899  AND  1900, 

By   a.   M.   GILLAM, 


AND 


WHAT  TO  DO  BEFORE  THE  VETERINARY 
SURGEON  COMES, 

By  GEORGE  FLEMING,  F.R.  C.V.  S. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
HENRY  T.   COATES   &    CO. 

1901. 


COPYRIGHT, 

HENRY  T.  COATES  &  CO. 
1901. 


PREFACE 


This  little  work  has  been  a  labor  of  love,  and  has  been  written 
from  that  cause  alone.  The  writer  has  no  experience  to  relate; 
has  had  but  little  time  to  spare  to  see  races,  or  even  to  drive  the 
pets  he  has  raised.  Therefore,  having  none  of  his  own,  he  has 
drawn  largely  from  the  experience  of  others,  and  consequently  lays 
claim  to  no  merit  or  originality.  If  it  be  charged  that  too  much 
attention  has  been  given  to  the  favorites  of  other  days  and  the 
early  years  of  the  Trotting  Turf,  he  can  only  plead  the  architect's 
excuse,  that,  after  all,  the  foundations  of  a  house  are  the  most  im- 
portant; and,  moreover,  Hiram  Woodruff's  fascinating  book  has 
exerted  an  influence  which  the  later  writings  of  Splan,  Marvin, 
Feek  and  Geers,  able  horsemen  as  they  are,  have  never  been  able  to 
dispel.  Loving  a  horse  for  himself  alone,  and  not  rating  him  as  a 
mere  racing  machine,  to  be  cast  aside  when  no  longer  a  money- 
getter,  the  writer  has  made  just  such  a  book  as  he  would  give  to 
any  one  handling  his  own  horses ;  and  in  the  hope  that  others  may 
be  led  to  love  this  noblest  of  animals  as  he  does,  this  little  book 
is  sent  out  into  the  world  of  letters. 

Henry  T.  Coates. 


CONTENTS 


PAGES. 

A  Short  History  of  the  American  Trotting  and  Pacing  Horse,      ...  9 

The  American  Trotting  Turf  in  1899  and  1900, 73 

Some  Useful  Hints,  Suggestions  and  Opinions  on  Training  and  Con- 
ditioning, Compiled  from  Various  Sources, 82 

Rules  for  Track  Laying, 92 

What  to  Do  before  the  Veterinary  Surgeon  Comes, 94 

Tables  of  Pedigrees  of  Famous  Horses, 117 

A  Moral  for  Horsemen, 147 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

{From  Photographs  hy  the  Author.) 


Goldsmith  Maid,  in  her  twenty -sixth  year, Frontispiece. 

Dexter,  in  his  twenty-fifth  year, 32 

Fkance's  Alexander, 52 

Trinket, 58 

Harry  Wilkes, 60 

Saladin  (from  a  photograph  by  Schreiber  &  Son), QQ 


A  SHORT  HISTORY 


AMERICAN  TROTTING  HORSE. 


America  naturally  inherits  that  love  for  the  horse  and  rural 
life  which  distinguishes  the  mother  country;  but  with  us  the 
trotter  holds  the  first  place  in  the  popular  estimation,  while  the 
running  turf  is  patronized  mainly  by  the  wealthiest  portion  of  the 
community.  Indeed,  we  may  justly  claim  the  trotting  horse  as  an 
American  production ;  for  though  this  gait  is  natural  to  the  horse, 
and  trotting  matches  have  occasionally  taken  place  in  England  and 
France,  and  though  in  Russia  the  efforts  of  the  famous  Count  Orloff 
have  resulted  in  establishing  a  breed  of  trotting  horses  which  have 
fine  action  and  some  speed,  it  is  only  in  this  country  that  the  trot- 
ting gait  has  been  brought  to  perfection. 

The  advocates  of  the  Darwinian  theory  can  reasonably  point  to 
the  trotting  horse  as  an  illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution ; 
for  though  he  is  not  a  distinct  breed  or  strain  of  horses,  or  de- 
scended from  any  one  family,  he  is  certainly  a  wonderful  instance 
of  what  may  be  done  by  cultivating  certain  gaits  or  peculiarities,  and 
by  a  careful  selection  of  only  the  best  animals  for  breeding  purposes. 
His  very  existence  in  this  country  hardly  dates  back  of  the  present 
century,  as  in  the  early  periods  of  our  history  all  the  imported 
horses  were  used  exclusively  for  running  purposes,  and  the  ante- 
revolutionary  races  were  all  of  that  character.  At  first,  as  in  all 
new  countries,  the  roads  were  very  rough  and  stony — poor  at  all 
times.^  and  in  bad  weather  utterly  impassable  for  light  carriages; 
the  distances  between  settlements  were  often  long  and  the  roads 
lonesome,  and  the  saddle  horse  was  the  only  medium  of  communi- 
cation, excepting  when  the  heavy,  lumbering  stages  jolted  slowly 
along  the  few  turnpike  roads  running  between  the  largest  towns. 
The  old  weather-beaten  stone  steps  still  remaining  at  the  gateway 
of  many  old-fashioned  country  houses,  although  now  unused  and 
mossy,  testify  to  the  equestrian  habits  of  the  colonial  era,  when  the 
saddle  horse  was  used  by  both  sexes. 

9 


10  A   SHORT   HISTORY   OP   THE 

"When,  in  May,  1788,  the  gray  horse  Messenger  dashed  down  the 
gangway  of  a  ship  from  England,  lying  at  the  foot  of  Market  street 
wharf,  in  Philadelphia,  the  history  of  the  American  trotting  horse 
began.  Messenger  was  a  thoroughbred  English  horse,  foaled  in 
1780,  and  was  imported,  as  were  many  other  English  thorough- 
breds, on  account  of  his  value  as  a  running  horse,  and  for  the 
improvement  of  thoroughbreds  in  this  country.  Like  Maecenas 
of  classic  renown  he  was  "  descended  from  regal  ancestors,"  for 
being  by  Mambrino,  the  son  of  Engineer,  he  could  trace  his  pedigree 
through  the  famous  Flying  Childers  directly  back  to  the  Darley 
Arabian,  and  on  his  dam's  side  he  could  boast  of  Match  em,  Regulus, 
Cade,  and  the  Godolphin  Arabian.  He  had  run  in  England  with 
moderate  success,  winning  eight  out  of  the  thirteen  races  for  which 
he  started. 

He  was  a  handsome  gray,  15f  hands  high,  with  "  a  large  bony 
head,  rather  short,  straight  neck,  with  windpipe  and  nostrils  nearly 
twice  as  large  as  ordinary ;  low  withers,  shoulders  somewhat  up- 
right, but  deep  and  strong  ;  powerful  loin  and  quarters ;  hocks  and 
knees  unusually  large,  and  below  them  limbs  of  medium  size,  but 
flat  and  clean,  and,  whether  at  rest  or  in  motion,  always  in  a  per- 
fect position. '^ 

A  groom  who  saw  him  taken  off  the  ship  was  accustomed  to 
relate  that  "  the  three  other  horses  that  accompanied  him  on  a  long 
voyage  had  become  so  reduced  and  weak  that  they  had  to  be 
helped  and  supported  down  the  gangplank ;  but  when  it  came  to 
Messenger's  turn  to  land,  he,  with  a  loud  neigh,  charged  down, 
with  a  negro  on  each  side  holding  him  back,  and  dashed  off  up  the 
street  on  a  stiff  trot,  carrying  the  negroes  along,  in  spite  of  all  their 
efforts  to  bring  him  to  a  stand-still.'^ 

The  first  two  seasons  after  his  arrival  he  was  kept  at  Neshaminy 
Bridge,  near  Bristol,  in  Bucks  county.  Pa.  Mr.  Henry  Astor  then 
purchased  him,  and  took  him  to  Long  Island.  Two  years'  later 
Mr.  C.  W.  Van  Banst  purchased  an  interest  in  him,  and  for  the 
remainder  of  his  life  he  was  kept  in  various  parts  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  with  the  exception  of  one  year  at  Cooper's  Point,  New 
Jersey,  opposite  Philadelphia.  He  died  of  colic,  at  Oyster  Bay, 
Long  Island,  January  28th,  1808,  and  such  was  the  estimation  in 
which  he  was  held,  that  at  his  funeral  military  honors  were  paid, 
and  a  volley  of  musketry  was  fired  over  his  grave.  His  immediate 
descendants  were  trained  for  the  running  turf,  and  Potomac,  Fair 
Rachel,  Sir  Solomon,  Sir  Harry,  Bright  Phoebus,  Miller's  Damsel 
(dam  of  American  Eclipse),  and  Hambletouian  were  among  the 
fastest  horses  of  their  day.  Had  it  not  been  that  a  few  years  after 
his  arrival  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  passed  a  law  prohibiting 
racing,  thus  compelling  those  owning  fine  horses  to  keep  them  for 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  11 

road  purposes,  in  all  probability  his  progeny  would  have  been 
trained  to  gallop  instead  of  trot. 

About  this  time,  the  country  roads  growing  better  and  road 
wagons  being  made  lighter,  trotting  came  into  fashion,  and  the 
wonderful  trotting  speed  of  this  family  was  discovered.  He 
"  builded  better  than  he  knew"  who  brought  the  grand  old 
gray  into  this  country,  and  it  is  estimated  that  his  importation 
has  added  at  least  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars  to  the  wealth 
of  the  country.  A  very  large  proportion  of  the  horses  now  on 
the  trotting  turf  contain  the  blood  of  old  Messenger  in  their 
veins,  and  the  celebrated  Hambletonian,  the  most  fashionable 
stallion  of  recent  times,  boasted  of  four  separate  strains  of  this  blood. 
Other  stallions  have  had  an  influence  in  producing  the  trotting 
horse.  The  mixture  of  the  blood  of  imported  Diomed,  the  winner 
of  the  first  Derby,  with  that  of  Messenger,  produced  the  wonderful 
Dexter,  while  the  names  of  Trustee,  Duroc,  American  Eclipse  and 
Sir  Henry  are  to  be  found  in  many  of  the  pedigrees  of  the  flyers  now 
on  the  turf.  In  1822,  the  Norfolk  trotter  Bellfounder,  who  had 
trotted  two  miles  in  6  m.,  and  nine  in  less  than  half  an  hour,  and 
was  said  to  have  challenged  all  England  to  trot  seventeen  and  a  half 
miles  within  the  hour,  was  imported,  and  if  persistent  advertising 
could  have  made  him  a  success,  he  would  have  been  the  greatest 
of  all  importations.  He  lived  to  be  twenty-nine  years  old,  but,  with 
the  exception  of  siring  the  dam  of  Rysdyk's  Hambletonian,  did 
little  to  fulfill  expectations.  The  Canadians,  old  pacer  Pilot,  Sur- 
rey, St.  Lawrence  and  Royal  Greorge,  and  the  Arabians,  Grand 
Bashaw  and  Zilcaadi,  have  also  had  their  influence;  but  all 
combined  might  not  have  succeeded  in  producing  the  American 
trotting  horse  had  not  Messenger  the  great  been  imported. 

The  records  of  the  rise  of  the  trotting  turf  in  this  country  are 
few  and  meagre;  the  earliest  notices  of  any  trotting  matches  being 
found  in  the  American  Farmer,  edited  by  the  Hon.  John  S. 
Skinner,  published  in  1819. 

The  first  sporting  paper  published  in  America  was  a  monthly 
magazine,  called  the  American  Turf  Register,  also  edited  by  Mr. 
Skinner,  published  in  Baltimore,  September  1, 1829.  This  journal 
was  almost  entirely  devoted  to  the  thoroughbred  running  horse  and 
racing;  and,  during  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  its  existence, 
trotting  was  scarcely  mentioned  in  its  pages. 

Porter's  Spirit  of  the  Times,  of  December  20,  1856,  states: 
"The  first  time  ever  a  horse  trotted  in  public  for  a  stake  was  in 
1818,  and  that  was  a  match  against  time  for  $1000.  The  match 
was  proposed  at  a  jockey  club  dinner,  where  trotting  had  come 
under  discussion,  and  the  bet  was  that  no  horse  could  be  produced 
that  could  trot  a  mile  in  3  minutes.     It  was  accepted  by  Major 


12  A  SHORT   HISTORY   OP   THE 

Wm.  Jones,  of  Long  Island,  and  Col.  Bond,  of  Maryland,  bufc 
the  odds  on  time  were  immense.  The  horse  named  at  the  post 
was  Boston  Blue,  who  won  cleverly,  and  gained  great  renown.  He 
Bubsequently  was  purchased  by  Thomas  Cooper,  the  tragedian,  who 
drove  him  on  several  occasions  between  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia, thereby  enabling  him  to  perform  his  engagements  in  either 
city  on  alternate  nights.'^  Boston  Blue  was  taken  to  England, 
where  he  trotted  8  miles  in  28  m.  55  s.,  winning  a  hundred  sover- 
eigns. He  also  trotted  several  shorter  races,  making  about  3  m. 
time.  He  was  a  rat-tailed,  iron-gray  gelding,  16  hands  high,  and 
nothing  was  known  of  his  pedigree. 

Boston  Blue  was  followed  later  by  a  rough-coated  little  Indian 
pony,  named  Tom  Thumb,  who  on  a  cold  day  in  February,  1829, 
trotted  one  hundred  miles  over  Sunbury  Common  in  10  h.  7  m., 
and  in  the  following  September,  driven  by  his  new  owner,  the  re- 
doubtable Squire  Osbaldestone,  he  trotted  sixteen  and  a  half  miles 
in  561  m. 

In  1825  the  New  York  Trotting  Club  was  organized,  and  in 
1828  the  Hunting  Park  Association  was  established  in  Philadel- 
phia— "for  the  encouragement  of  the  breed  of  fine  horses,  espe- 
cially that  most  valuable  one  known  as  the  trotter  " — and  a  corre- 
spondent of  the  English  Sporting  Magazine,  writing  of  the  trot- 
ting horses  at  this  course  in  1829,  mentions  the  following: 

"  Topgallant,  by  Hambletonian,  he  by  Messenger,  trotted  12 
miles  in  harness  in  38  minutes  ;  and  3  miles,  under  saddle,  in  8  m. 
31  s.  He  is  now  nineteen  years  old,  and  can  trot  a  mile  with  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  in  2  m.  45  s. 

"  Betsey  Baker,  by  Mambrino,  he  by  Messenger,  beat  Topgal- 
lant three  miles,  under  saddle,  carrying  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds,  in  8  m.  16  s.  This  mare,  when  sound,  could  trot  twenty 
miles  within  the  hour. 

"  Trouble,  by  Hambletonian,  a  horse  of  good  bottom,  trotted  two 
miles  in  5  m.  25  s. 

"  Sir  Peter,  by  Hambletonian,  trotted  three  miles,  in  harness,  in 
8  m.  16  s. 

"  Whalebone,  by  Hambletonian,  trotted  three  miles  in  8  m.  18  s. 
These  two.  Sir  Peter  and  Whalebone,  can  be  matched  either  against 
Battler  or  Tom  Thumb,  now  in  England,  for  any  amount. 

"  Screwdriver,  by  Mount  Holly,  he  by  Messenger,  in  a  race 
with  Betsey  Baker,  trotted  two  three-mile  heats  in  8  m.  2  s.,  and 
8  m.  10  s." 

Indeed,  so  famous  was  Screwdriver,  that  when  he  died  a  Phila- 
delphia paper  gave  him  the  following  first-class  obituary:  ^^The 
emj^eror  of  horses  is  7io  more.  Screwdriver  is  dead.  He  died  sud- 
denly on  Sunday,  October  19, 1828,  in  his  training  stable,  at  Phila- 


AMERICAN    TROTTING   HORSE.  13 

delphia.  This  is  the  noble  animal  that  trotted  and  won  at  Philadel- 
phia the  silver  cup  and  S300,  on  the  15th  of  May  last,  beating 
Betsey  Baker  and  Topgallant.  On  the  7th  inst.  he  won  the 
$300  purse  on  Long  Island,  and  was  intended  for  the  S300  purse 
to  be  trotted  for  on  Tuesday,  the  21st  inst.,  at  Philadelphia.  He 
was  considered  the  best  trotter  ever  known  in  this  or  any  other 
country,  of  a  fine  figure  and  excellent  temper.  He  was  the  prop- 
erty of  J.  P.  Brown,  of  this  city." 

In  those  days  most  of  the  races  were  at  long  distances — two, 
three  or  four  njile  heats  were  the  most  frequent — and  speed  was 
not,  as  now,  cultivated  to  the  exclusion  of  that  other  and  more 
useful  qualification  of  the  driving  horse,  endurance ;  and  upon  that 
solid  foundation,  then  and  there  laid,  rests  the  beautifal  superstruc- 
ture which  we  now  admire.  In  1829,  when  in  his  twenty-second 
year,  in  a  four-mile  race  against  Whalebone,  over  the  Hunting  Park 
Course,  Topgallant,  a  grandson  of  Messenger,  trotted  four  heats  of 
four  miles  each  in  11  m.  16  s.,  11  m.  6  s.,  11  m.  17  s.,  and  12  m. 
15s.,  the  whole  sixteen  miles  being  trotted  in  45  m.  4-i  s.  The 
second  heat  was  declared  *'  dead,'^  and  the  third  heat  was  won  by 
Whalebone.  Hiram  Woodruff,  in  his  work  on  "  The  Trotting 
Horse  of  America,"  the  acknowledged  standard  authority,  says  of 
old  Topgallant :  "  He  was  the  most  remarkable  instance  of  extra- 
ordinary trotting  power  and  endurance,  when  at  a  great  age,  that 
ever  came  under  my  notice.  *  *  *  He  was  a  dark  bay  horse,  15 
hands  3  inches  high,  plain  and  raw-boned,  but  with  rather  a  fine 
head  and  neck,  and  an  eye  expressive  of  much  courage.  He  was 
spavined  in  both  hind  legs,  and  his  tail  was  slim  at  the  root.  His 
spirit  was  very  high  ;  and  yet  he  was  so  reliable  that  he  would 
hardly  ever  break,  and  his  bottom  was  of  the  finest  and  toughest 
quality.  He  was  live-oak  as  well  as  hickory,  for  the  best  of  his 
races  were  made  after  he  was  twenty  years  old.' 

Up  to  1830  there  had  been  but  little  interest  taken  in  trotting, 
but  now  it  was  fast  becoming  thoroughly  established  as  a  popular 
pastime.  Plank  roads  too  were  being  laid  out  in  all  directions,  and 
"two  forty  on  a  plank  road''  became  the  familiar  slang  term  to 
denote  anything  fast,  and  applicable  alike  to  the  equine  and  human 
species.  Old  Topgallant,  Whalebone  and  Sweetbriar  were  the 
public  favorites,  while  Sally  Miller,  Chancellor,  Columbus,  Dred, 
Collector,  and  a  host  of  new  aspirants  were  fast  edging  their  way 
to  public  favor.  In  1833,  Paul  Pry,  a  gray  gelding  nine  years  old, 
was  backed  to  trot  17f  miles  within  the  hour,  over  the  Long 
Island  Course,  which  he  did  with  ease,  trotting  18  miles  and  HG 
yards  over  in  58  m.  52  s.  This  race  is  especially  noteworthy  as 
being  one  of  the  first  mounts  of  Hiram  Woodruff,  to  whose  patient 
care,  wonderful  insight  into  the  nature  of  the  horse,  and  unsur- 


14  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OF   THE 

passed  skill   in   driving,  the  American    trotting   horse  is    greatly 
indebted  for  the  proud  position  he  now  holds. 

In  1834,  at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  Edwin  Forrest,  who  had  been 
about  a  year  on  the  turf,  trotted  a  mile  in  2  m.  36  s.,  and  Columbus 
in  2  m.  37  s.,  and  the  Turf  Register  of  March,  1834,  copies  from  a 
Philadelphia  paper  the  following  comments  on  the  race:  "The 
improvement  of  the  trotting  horse  is  engaging  the  attention  of 
some  of  the  best  sporting  characters  in  the  country.  We  believe 
our  State  boasts  of  the  best  trotters  in  the  Union.  New  York  is 
nearly  as  good  as  our  own.  It  is,  in  our  opinion,  a  sport  which 
should  be  encouraged."  On  May  9th,  of  the  same  year,  Edwin 
Forrest  beat  Sally  Miller,  on  Long  Island,  in  the  then  unprece- 
dented time  of  2  m.  31  ^  s.,  2  m.  33  s.,  and  soon  after  challenged  any 
horse  in  the  world  to  contend  with  him  at  four-mile  heats,  for  any 
sum  from  $5000  to  $10,000,  without  finding  a  taker.  In  1836, 
appeared  two  horses  whose  names  frequently  appear  in  the  annals  of 
trotting,  Awful,  a  tall,  wiry,  bloodlike  looking  bay,  and  Dutchman, 
whose  time  for  three  miles  stood  for  thirty  years  at  the  head  of  the 
record;  and  has  only  once  been  beaten.  Dutchman  was  a  coarse 
brown  horse,  15  hands  3  inches  high,  very  powerful  and  of  uncom- 
mon resolution  and  endurance.  He  had  formerly  worked  in  the 
lead  of  a  team  which  carted  bricks  in  Mr.  Jeffries'  brick  yard  at 
Philadelphia,  and  did  his  full  share  of  the  heavy  work.  He  might 
have  remained  in  obscurity  all  his  life  if  an  important  election  had 
not  occurred,  and  Mr.  Jeffries'  regular  carriage  horse  falling  lame 
Dutchman  was  pressed  into  the  service  of  carrying  the  free  and 
independent  voters  to  the  polls.  He  performed  so  well,  albeit  the 
loads  were  heavy,  that  Mr.  Jeffries  concluded  that  he  would  make 
a  trotter,  and  he  left  the  brick  yard  forever.  Transferred  to  the 
turf,  he  soon  took  his  place  at  its  head,  which  he  held  for  seven 
years  against  such  competitors  as  Awful,  Rattler,  Rifle,  and  the 
renowned  Lady  Suffolk.  In  1836  he  trotted  four  mile  heats 
under  the  saddle,  in  11  m.  19  s.  and  10  m.  51s. ;  the  time  of 
the  second  heat  has  only  once  been  beaten.  His  three-mile  race 
with  Rattler  over  the  Beacon  Course,  in  1838,  shows  the  severity 
of  the  contests  of  those  days,  and  an  endurance  of  which  we  are 
afraid  few  of  the  flyers  of  to-day  can  boast.  The  first  heat  Rattler 
won  by  half  a  length  in  7  m.  54^  s.,  the  second  Dutchman  won 
in  7  m.  50  s.,  the  third  heat  was  dead  in  8  m.  2  s.,  and  the  fourth 
Dutchman  won  in  8  m.  24 ^  s.  Hiram  Woodruff,  who  drove  Dutch- 
man, says  of  this  race :  "  Just  such  a  race  as  this  it  has  never  been 
my  fortune  to  see  since,  and  nobody  had  seen  such  a  one  before. 
For  eleven  miles  the  horses  were  never  clear  of  each  other;  and, 
when  Dutchman  left  Rattler  in  the  twelfth,  it  was  by  inches  only. 
Moreover,  there  were  but  two  breaks  in  this  race,  and  each  horse 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  15 

made  but  one  in  his  twelve  miles.  That  was  trotting ;  and  though 
both  the  horses  afterwards  acquired  more  speed,  they  never  ex- 
hibited more  obstinate  game  or  more  thorough  bottom  than  in  this 
race.^^  Rattler  was  soon  afterwards  taken  to  England,  and  was  by 
all  odds  the  best  trotter  ever  taken  there. 

Dutchman's  greatest  performance  took  place  over  the  Beacon 
Course,  on  the  1st  of  August,  1839.  On  the  afternoon  of  that  day 
he  trotted,  with  Hiram  Woodruff  in  the  saddle,  three  miles  in  7  m. 
32  s.  His  driver,  Hiram  Woodruff,  says  of  this  race  :  "  I  am  posi- 
tive that,  if  he  had  been  called  on  to  do  so,  he  could  have  trotted 
the  three  miles  in  7  m.  27  s.,  or  better.  This  is  no  light  opinion  of 
mine,  taken  up  years  afterwards  on  inadequate  grounds,  and  when 
those  who  might  be  opposed  to  it  had  gone  from  among  us.  It 
was  the  judgment  of  those  who  saw  him  in  the  feat,  observed  him 
all  through,  and  noticed  how  he  finished.  *  *  *  The  truth  is, 
that  he  was  a  most  extraordinary  horse.  There  have  been  many 
trotters  that  could  go  as  fast  for  a  little  way ;  but  the  beauty  of 
Dutchman  was,  that  he  could  go  fast,  and  go  all  day.'' 

The  last  race  but  one  which  Dutchman  ever  trotted  took  place 
at  the  Beacon  Course,  in  1843,  and  is  so  graphically  described  by 
Hiram  Woodruff  in  his  "  Trotting  Horse  of  America,"  that  we 
cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  quote  it  entire. 

"  In  a  week  or  ten  days  thereafter,  we  went  three-mile  heats  in 
harness,  over  the  Beacon  Course,  and  it  was  a  tremendous  race  of 
four  heats.  The  first  was  won  by  Dutchman.  The  second  was 
stoutly  contested,  but  Americus  won  it.  The  third  heat  was  very 
hotly  contested,  and  resulted  in  a  dead  heat  between  the  old  horse 
and  Americus.  Lady  Suffolk  was  now  ruled  out  for  not  winning 
a  heat  in  three,  and  the  betting  was  heavy,  Dutchman  having  the 
call. 

"  The  long  summer  day  had  drawn  rapidly  to  a  close.  At 
the  same  time  the  heavens  were  overcast;  and  with  fading  gleams 
of  dim,  yellow  light,  the  sun  sank  into  great  banks  of  clouds. 
They  mounted  higher  and  higher,  and  seemed  to  lie  like  a  load 
upon  the  weary  earth.  The  heat  was  intense ;  and  not  a  breath  of 
air  was  stirring  to  break  the  ominous  repose.  With  the  last  flicker 
of  day,  the  swift  scud  began  to  fly  overhead,  and  the  solid-seeming 
clouds  to  tower  up  and  come  on  like  moving  mountains.  It  was 
dark  when  we  got  into  our  sulkies ;  and,  soon  after  the  start,  the 
storm  burst  upon  us  with  a  fury  that  I  have  never  since  seen 
equalled.  The  wind  blew  a  hurricane,  and  the  pelting  rain  fell  in 
torrents,  as  though  the  sluices  of  the  skies  had  opened  all  at  once. 
Nothing  could  have  overpowered  the  mighty  rush  of  the  wind  and 
the  furious  splash  of  the  rain  but  the  dread,  tremendous  rattle  of 
the  thunder.     It  seemed  to  be  discharged  right  over  our  heads. 


16  A    SHORT    HISTORY   OF   THE 

and  only  a  few  yards  above  us.  Nothing  could  have  penetrated 
the  thick,  profound  gloom  of  that  darkness  but  the  painful  blue 
blaze  of  the  forked  lightning.  I  could  not  see,  in  the  short  inter- 
vals between  the  flashes,  the  faintest  trace  of  the  horse  before  me  j 
and  then,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  as  though  the  darkness  was 
torn  away  like  a  veil  by  the  hand  of  the  Almighty,  the  whole 
course,  the  surrounding  country,  to  the  minutest  and  most  distant 
thing,  would  be  revealed.  The  spires  of  the  churches  and  houses 
of  Newark,  eight  miles  oflP,  we  could  see  more  plainly  than  in  broad 
daylight ;  and  we  noticed,  that,  as  the  horses  faced  the  howling 
elements,  their  ears  lay  back  flat  upon  their  necks.  Between  these 
flashes  of  piercing,  all-pervading  light  and  the  succeeding  claps  of 
thunder,  the  suspense  and  strain  upon  the  mind  was  terrible.  We 
knew  that  it  was  coming  so  as  to  shake  the  very  pillars  of  the  earth, 
but  we  rode  on ;  and,  until  it  had  rattled  over  our  heads,  we  were 
silent.  Then,  in  the  blank  darkness,  as  we  went  on  side  by  side, 
we  would  exchange  cautions.  Neither  could  see  the  other,  nor 
hear  the  wheels  nor  the  stride  of  the  horses,  by  reason  of  the  wind 
and  rain. 

^' '  Look  out,  Hiram,'  Spicer  would  say,  '  or  we  shall  be  into 
each  other.' 

^'A  few  strides  farther  on,  and  I  would  sing  out,  'Take  care, 
George ;  you  must  be  close  to  me.' 

"  Now,  the  noise  of  the  wheels  and  the  tramp  of  the  horses  could 
not  be  heard  in  the  roar  of  the  wind  and  the  patter  of  the  rain, 
and  yet  our  voices  could  be  and  were.  For  a  mile  and  a  half,  in 
the  very  centre,  as  it  were,  of  this  Titanic  war  of  the  skyey 
elements,  we  went  side  by  side.  Then  Dutchman  lost  ground. 
The  track  was  clayey,  and  he,  having  on  flat  shoes,  began  to  slip 
and  slide  at  every  stride.  Americus  gradually  drew  away  from 
him  ;  and,  when  I  reached  the  stand  at  the  end  of  the  second  mile, 
I  stopped.  I  have  seen  a  great  many  summer  storms  in  my  time, 
and  have  been  out  in  not  a  few  of  them,  but,  of  all  that  I  remember, 
none  quite  equalled,  in  terrific  fury  and  awful  grandeur,  that  which 
burst  over  the  Beacon  Course  just  as  we  began  that  heat.  Spicer 
says  the  same." 

After  being  beaten  three-mile  heats  by  the  pacer  Oneida  Chief 
and  Lady  Suffolk,  at  Baltimore,  Dutchman  was  withdrawn  from 
the  turf,  and  died  in  1847,  full  of  years  and  honors. 

Bipton  was  a  very  handsome  bay  horse,  about  fifteen  hands  high, 
with  four  white  legs  and  a  blaze  in  the  face,  high  strung  and 
possessing  unusual  spirit  and  determination.  Like  Dutchman  his 
pedigree  was  unknown,  but  like  him  also  his  performances  prove 
that  there  must  have  been  good  blood  in  his  veins.  He  was  Hiram 
WoodrulF's  pride,  and  in  his  hands  often  contended  with  Lady 


AMERICAN   TROTTING   HORSE.  17 

Suffolk,  Americus,  Don  Juan  and  Washington,  and  generally  came 
off  victorious.  On  May  31,  1842,  on  the  Hunting  Park  Course, 
two-mile  heats,  he  defeated  Lady  Suffolk  in  the  quick  time  of  5m. 
7s.,  5m.  15s.,  5m.  17s.  Suffolk  won  the  second  heat,  and  Ripton 
was  first  in  the  last  heat  by  six  inches  only. 

On  October  20,  1848,  Trustee,  a  son  of  imported  Trustee,  out 
of  Fanny  Pullen,  a  celebrated  trotting  mare,  in  a  match  against 
time  over  the  Union  Course,  Long  Island,  trotted  twenty  miles  in 
59  m.  35 i  s.  without  breaking  oncC;  coming  in  on  the  last  mile 
apparently  as  fresh  as  when  he  started,  and  trotting  the  last  mile 
in  2  m.  51  ^  s.,  the  fastest  of  the  race.  This  has  since  been  sur- 
passed by  Controller,  Captain  McGowan  and  John  Stewart;  but 
Trustee's  performance  was  many  years  in  advance  of  the  others, 
and  was  undoubtedly  a  great  one. 

But  the  brightest  star  of  the  trotting  firmament,  and  the  great 
favorite  of  the  sporting  fraternity  at  this  time,  was  the  old  gray 
mare  Lady  Suffolk.  She  was  foaled  in  1833,  and  was  by  En- 
gineer 2d,  a  grandson  of  Messenger,  and  was  closely  inbred  to  the 
gray  on  her  dam's  side.  She  was  a  gray,  about  fifteen  hands  one 
inch  high,  with  a  bloodlike  head,  deep  in  the  chest  and  long  in  the 
body,  good  muscular  shoulders  and  legs  of  iron.  Her  career  at 
first  was  not  successful,  and  gave  but  little  promise  of  her  after 
brilliancy.  The  Lady's  first  public  appearance  was  on  a  very  cold 
day  in  February,  1838,  at  Babylon,  N.  Y.,  where  she  trotted  for  a 
purse  of  eleven  dollars,  and  won  it  after  three  heats,  the  fastest  of 
which  was  in  three  minutes.  In  her  next  race,  June  20th,  at  the 
Beacon  Course,  she  was  beaten  in  poor  time ;  but  two  days  after- 
wards, at  the  same  place,  she  won  a  trot  of  two-mile  heats,  under 
the  saddle,  beating  Lady  Victory,  a  horse  of  some  local  fame,  in 
5  m.  15  s.  and  5  m.  17  s.  She  was  then  beaten  by  Rattler, 
Awful,  and  Napoleon,  all  of  them  races  of  two-mile  heats;  and 
October  17th,  she  beat  Polly  Smallfry  and  Madame  Royal,  two- 
mile  heats,  in  5  m.  18  s.  and  5  m.  26  s.  Rattler  then  beat  her 
three-mile  heats,  and  the  famous  Dutchman  beat  her  two  races, 
two-mile  and  mile  heats  respectively.  In  1839  she  trotted  twelve 
races,  eight  of  which  were  two-mile  heats,  and  one  of  four-mile 
heats,  winning  six  and  losing  six.  In  1840  she  first  lost  two  races 
of  two-miles  heats  and  three-miles  heats  respectively  to  the  mighty 
Dutchman,  and  then  in  less  than  a  week  after  these  two  severe 
races,  she  beat  Celeste  and  Napoleon,  at  the  Centreville  Course, 
two-mile  heats.  June  30th,  she  beat  Bonaparte  easily,  at  the  Cen- 
treville, four-mile  heats,  in  11  m.  15  s.  and  11  m.  58  s.  She  then 
lay  by  until  September  21st,  when  she  beat  Aaron  Burr,  two-mile 
heats,  at  the  Beacon  Course,  and  three  days  later  she  added  to  her 
growing  fame  by  beating  Dutchman,  two-mile  heats,  under  saddle, 

9 


18  \  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OP   THE 

at  the  Beacon  Course,  in  4  m.  59  s.  and  5  m.  3^  s.  Owing  to  an 
accident,  she  did  no  more  work  that  year.  She  opened  the  season 
of  1841  by  beating  Confidence  and  Washington,  two-mile  heats,  at 
the  Centreville  Course,  but  the  former  a  few  days  hiter  turned  the 
tables  upon  her.  At  Philadelphia,  May  6th,  she  beat  Dutchman, 
two-mile  heats,  in  harness,  in  5  m.  12^  s  ,  5  m.  19^  s  ,  and  5  m. 
21  s.,  and  two  days  afterwards  beat  him,  three-mile  heats,  under 
saddle,  in  7  m.  40^  s.  and  7  m.  56  s.  Aaron  Burr  then  beat  her 
three-mile  heats  at  the  Beacon  Course,  June  13th.  On  July  5th,  at 
the  Beacon,  she  beat  Ripton,  under  saddle,  mile  heats,  in  2  m.  35  s. 
and  2  m.  27 i  s.,  and  on  the  22d  of  the  same  month,  at  the  same 
course,  she  beat  Awful,  two- mile  heats,  in  harness,  in  three  heats, 
in  5  m.  26 J  s.,  5  m.  28  s.,  and  5  m.  24  s.  Five  days  after,  at  the 
game  course,  she  distanced  Oneida  Chief,  the  pacer,  two-mile  heats, 
under  saddle,  in  5  m.  5  s.,  with  very  great  ease.  She  finished  her 
■work  this  year  by  suffering  defeat  from  Americus  in  a  five-mile  race 
to  wagon.  The  next  two  years  she  was  generally  unsuccessful, 
■which  was  attributed  universally  to  the  obstinacy  and  incompetency 
of  her  owner  and  driver,  David  Bryant. 

In  1844  the  Lady  was  very  successful,  beating  Americus,  Bipton, 
Washington,  Columbus,  Duchess,  Pizarro,  and  losing  but  two  races. 
In  1845,  she  won  four  races,  three  from  Americus  and  one  from 
Moscow,  and  lost  four  times :  twice  to  Americus,  once  to  Duchess, 
and  once  to  Moscow.  In  1846  she  only  won  two  out  of  her  five 
races,  but  in  1847,  when  she  was  in  her  fourteenth  year,  she  bore 
away  the  palm  from  all  her  competitors,  winning  nine  times,  and 
against  such  horses  as  Moscow,  Lady  Sutton,  Bipton,  and  the 
pacers,  James  K.  Polk  and  Boanoke,  and  lost  but  once.  These 
performances  were  at  three,  two,  and  one-mile  heats,  under  saddle, 
in  harness,  and  to  sulkies,  doing  three  miles  in  7  m.  56  s.  and 
8  m.  6}  s.,  two  miles  in  5  m.  3  s.,  5  m.  10  s.,  and  5  m.  12  s.,  one 
mile  in  2  m.  33 1  s.  In  1848  she  trotted  only  six  races,  having 
met  with  an  accident  in  the  middle  of  the  season,  when  she  was 
winning  races  hoof  over  hoof;  but,  in  1849,  she  came  out  fresh  and 
fine  after  her  accident,  and  trotted  nineteen  races,  and  came  out  con- 
queror in  twelve  of  them,  beating  Gray  Eagle,  Mac,  and  Lady  Sutton 
each  twice;  Pelham,  five  times;  Trustee,  the  famous  twenty-milcr, 
four  times;  Long  Island  Black  Hawk,  Gray  Trouble,  Ploughboy, 
and  others.  In  her  race  with  Mac  and  Gray  Trouble,  at  Boston, 
June  14th,  to  saddle,  she  won  the  second  heat  in  2  m.  26  s.,  which 
for  a  short  time  was  at  the  head  of  the  record.  In  1850  she  beat 
Lady  Moscow  six  times,  at  one,  two,  and  three  miles  ;  Jack  Bossitcr, 
thrice;  Hector,  once;  and  in  harness,  once  her  old  adversary,  James 
K.  Polk,  to  wagon.  She  was  beaten  four  times  by  Lady  Moscow, 
at  two  and  three  miles,  and  twice,  at  two  miles,  by  Jack  Bossiter, 


AMERICAN   TROTTING    HORSE.  19 

coming  off  victorious  from  both  in  each  match  of  three  events.  Id 
1851  she  was  only  moderately  successful.  In  1852  she  trotted 
twelve  races,  and  won  but  once,  and  in  1853  she  appeared  twice, 
but  was  defeated  in  both  races.  She  died  at  Bridgeport,  Vt., 
on  March  7th,  1855.  Trotting  indiscriminately  races  of  five, 
four,  three,  two  and  one-mile  heats,  in  season  and  out  of  season, 
wretchedly  managed  and  driven,  no  distance  seemed  too  long  for 
her,  nor  any  exertion  too  great.  An  honester,  gamer,  tougher 
beast  never  trod  the  earth;  nothing  ever  daunted  her  noble  spirit; 
she  never  flinched  or  sulked,  and  would  come  up  at  the  judge's 
signal  for  the  last  heat  with  the  same  determination  to  do  or  die  as 
at  the  first,  and  had  she  been  more  judiciously  handled,  would  have 
won  far  more  victories  than  stand  to  her  credit.  She  was  six- 
teen years  on  the  turf,  and  trotted  in  one  hundred  and  sixty-one 
races,  winning  eighty-eight,  and  winning  for  her  owner  in  purses 
alone  $35,000,  at  a  time  when  large  purses  were  the  exception. 

The  secret  of  Lady  Sufiblk's  career  was  love.  Hard  driver  though 
he  was,  David  Bryan,  her  owner,  trainer,  driver  and  intimate  friend ^ 
loved  his  faithful  mare,  and  his  cheery  greeting  in  the  stable  of 
*'  Well,  Dolly,"  fell  as  sweetly  on  her  ears  as  ever  song  of  trouba- 
dour on  love-sick  maiden's.  She  was  his  devoted  slave,  and  though 
after  his  death  in  1851  she  received  the  best  care  and  attention, 
she  ever  missed 

"  The  touch  of  a  vanished  hand 
And  the  sound  of  the  voice  that  ia  still," 

and  in  the  few  remaining  years  in  which  she  survived  her  old 
master  was  but  a  shadow  of  her  former  self 

Next  to  Dutchman,  James  K.  Polk,  the  pacer,  was,  perhaps,  the 
best  horse  she  ever  met.  He  was  a  big,  handsome,  blood-like, 
chestnut  gelding,  with  a  long,  sweeping  tail,  and  of  so  commanding 
appearance  that  he  completely  filled  the  scene,  so  that  it  was  next 
to  impossible  to  look  at  any  of  the  other  horses  in  the  race.  He 
was  a  hard  puller,  and  a  tremendous  horse  in  long-distance  races.  He 
beat  Lady  Suffolk  twice  in  three-mile-heat  races  and  twice  in  two- 
mile  races,  and  once  at  mile  heats. 

If  James  K.  Polk  could  boast  of  a  fine,  long  tail,  another  atten- 
dant at  the  court  of  the  old  grey  queen  could  not.  After  the  fool- 
ish, if  not  sinful  fashion  of  those  days — which,  alas !  is  coming 
in  vogue  again — Grey  Eagle  was  docked.  He  was  by  Harris' 
Hambletonian,  and  had  a  record  of  two  minutes  thirty-five  seconds. 
Despite  his  docked  tail,  Hiram  Woodruff,  who  owned  and  drove 
him,  says,  *'  He  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  little  horses  ever  seen. 
He  was  well  broken,  and  a  splendid  driver,  looking  magnificent 
when  going,  and,  next  to  Ripton,  the  best  horse  for  snow  I  have 
ever  known.     It  made  but  little  difference  whether  the  sleighing 


20  A    SHORT   HISTORY   OF   THE 

was  good  or  indifferent,  for  he  would  go  through  icy  water  and 
slush  as  if  he  liked  it ;  but  it  made  a  great  difference  to  the  driver." 

Another  cf  the  grey  mare's  contemporaries  was  Jack  Rossiter,  a 
gay,  little  bay  gelding  of  unknown  lineage,  who,  a  short  time  back, 
in  Milwaukee — celebrated  for  its  cream-colored  brick  and  foamy 
beer — was  employed  in  the  ignoble  business  of  hauling  a  baggage 
wagon  from  the  dock  to  one  of  the  principal  hotels.  But  the  little 
gelding  had  a  soul  above  the  drudgery  of  business,  and  stepped 
along  with  so  jaunty  au  air  that  he  attracted  the  attention  of  a 
guest  at  the  hotel,  who,  perceiving  in  him  the  promise  of  better 
things  to  come,  bought  him  out  of  the  express  wagon,  bestowed 
upon  him  his  own  name,  and  trained  him  for  the  track.  As  if 
grateful  to  his  benefactor  and  namesake,  Jack  proved  himself  a 
first-class  trotter  for  those  primitive  days,  and  won  four  out  of  the 
thirteen  races  he  had  with  Lady  Suffolk. 

'  Forty  or  fifty  years  ago  the  Canadian  horses  were  more  promi- 
Dcnt  on  the  American  turf  than  now.  They  were  not  always  stylish 
or  beautiful,  but  they  were  sturdy  and  honest,  with  legs  of  iron  and 
excellent  feet,  and  could  go  at  a  good  round  trot,  and  go  all  day. 
They  never  got  much  below  the  2.30  line,  and  would  have  had 
little  chance  against  the  racing  machines  of  to-day,  but  in  those 
far-away  days  they  were  considered  wonders. 

*'  Our  Lady  of  the  Snows,"  as  Kipling  lovingly  styles  her,  has 
always  had  a  warm  place  in  her  heart  for  trotting  and  pacing  races, 
and,  next  to  lacrosse,  they  are  the  leading  amusement  of  the  mari- 
time provinces.  Nor  does  the  approach  of  their  bleak  winters  stop 
their  favorite  sport,  for  when  the  regular  race-tracks  here  are  silent 
and  deserted  the  frozen  bays  and  rivers  there  re-echo  with  the  hoof- 
beats  of  the  hardy,  hairy-legged,  bull-necked  Canadian  ponies. 
Seeing  the  merry  game  going  on  across  the  border,  she  determined 
to  take  a  hand,  and  played  what  she  imagined  was  a  trump  card. 
This  was  a  big,  raw-boned,  up-headed,  hard-pulling,  bay  gelding, 
as  unlike  the  regulation  Canuck  as  well  could  be,  named  Passe- 
carreau,  after  a  game  of  cards  popular  among  the  habitans  of  lower 
Canada.  But  French  is  by  no  means  a  strong  point  with  the  hab^ 
itues  of  the  American  turf,  and  when  the  stranger  made  his  first 
public  appearance  at  Albany,  on  July  4,  1844,  they  called  him 
Moscow,  as  the  nearest  approach  to  his  former  name.  He  trotted 
here  for  several  seasons  with  moderate  success,  but  was  never  the 
wonder  his  Canadian  sponsors  deemed  him. 

Two  years  later  he  was  followed  by  a  little  bay  mare,  who,  hail- 
ing from  the  Yamaska  River  region,  not  far  from  Quebec,  was 
called  Yamaska,  but  her  Canadian  name  being  equally  unpro- 
nounceable to  American  ears,  was  re-named  by  them  Lady  Moscow. 
A  far  better  horse  than  her  namesake,  and,  falling  into  the  hands 


AMERICAN   TROTTING   HORSE.  21 

of  American  trainers  and  drivers,  she  proved  herself  one  of  the 
toughest  and  best  horses  which  this  country  has  ever  received  from 
the  land  of  ice  and  snow.  She  fought  many  a  hard  battle  with 
Lady  Suffolk,  Lady  Sutton,  and  her  namesake  Moscow,  and  did  not 
often  come  off  second  best. 

In  her  old  age  she  and  Lady  Sutton  grazed  together  in  the  same 
Long  Island  pasture,  and  Hiram  Woodruff  says  :  "  When  these  two 
old  competitors  met  in  the  pasture,  after  never  having  seen  each 
other  for  many  years,  it  seemed  as  if  a  mutual  recognition  took 
place.  Go  by  when  you  would,  you  would  see  the  two  little  old  mares 
close  together,  grazing  aloof  from  the  other  horses  in  the  pasturage. 
They  both  throve  amazingly,  and  got  young  again,  to  all  appear- 
ance, in  their  companionship.  When  anybody  went  out  near 
them,  they  would  throw  up  their  heads  together  and  strike  a  trot 
like  a  spark  of  the  fire  of  other  days.  Each  had  done  a  vast 
amount  of  hard  work,  and  their  years  put  together  made  almost  or 
quite  half  a  century.  Lady  Moscow  looked  the  younger  of  the 
two,  but  she  has  gone  first.  She  was  taken  with  a  sort  of  paralysis 
on  Wednesday  night,  and  died  Saturday,  September  9  (1865),  in 
the  afternoon.  .  .  .  As  we  stood  there  on  the  green  hillside, 
looking  at  the  mare  that  lay  dead  before  us,  it  was  really  touching 
to  see  poor  old  Sutton,  wandering  round  her  dead  companion,  as  if 
unable  to  make  out  what  had  befallen.  Two  other  mares  were  near 
at  hand,  but  Sutton  did  not  seem  to  notice  them  at  all,  her  gaze 
being  fixed  from  time  to  time  on  her  whose  sinews  were  relaxed 
and  whose  hoofs  at  last  were  still." 

St.  Lawrence  was  one  of  the  best  of  the  old-time  Canucks,  and 
beat  such  good  horses  as  Jack  Rossiter  Chautauqua  Chief,  old 
Rhode  Island  and  Washington,  and  achieved  a  record  of  2  m.  34:  s. 
He  died  September  14,  1860,  aged  twenty-two  years,  leaving  many 
St.  Lawrences  to  keep  up  the  family  name,  but  utterly  failed  to 
establish  a  family  of  trotters. 

Still  another  Canadian  family  of  some  repute  were  the  Normans. 
Some  time  in  the  early  part  ot*  the  century  a  canny  Scotchman,  in 
Washington  County,  New  York,  combined  in  his  thrifty  person  the 
apparently  dissimilar  occupations  of  farmer  and  illicit  distiller.  The 
more  readily  to  dispose  of  the  ardent  products  of  his  corn  and 
wheat  fields,  and  avert  the  suspicions  of  government  detectives,  he 
made  yearly  trips  to  Montreal,  where  he  found  a  ready  market  for 
his  whisky.  From  one  of  these  trips  he  brought  back  with  him 
three  horses,  one  of  which  was  a  large,  stylish,  grey  stallion,  a  Uttle 
knee-sprung  from  hard  usage.  It  was  claimed  that  he  had  been 
imported  from  Normandy,  though  there  was  really  nothing  of  the 
Percheron  about  him,  except  his  color;  still  as  French  styles  go  in 
horse-flesh  as  well  as  in  millinery,  the  fiction  was  carefully  adhered 


22  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OP   THE 

to,  and  Ills  son,  out  of  a  mare  by  Harris'  Hamblctonian,  was  called 
Norman,  after  his  sire's  supposed  French  origin.  Norman,  or  the 
Morse  horse,  as  he  is  also  called,  left  some  good  stock ;  about  the  b<  st 
of  them  was  the  beautiful  Grey  Eddy,  who  defeated  Tacony  and 
Highland  Maid  each  twice,  and  Mac  and  Flora  Temple  each  once, 
and  did  not  lower  his  colors  to  any  of  them.  He  obtained  a  record 
of  2  m.  30  s. 

One  of  the  stoutest  and  best  branches  of  the  trotting  family  is 
the  Bashaw,  which  takes  its  name  from  Grand  Bashaw,  who  was 
imported  from  Tripoli  in  1820,  and  stood  in  Bucks  County,  near 
Philadelphia.  His  son,  Young  Bashaw,  out  of  Fancy,  a  daughter 
of  old  Messenger,  is  the  real  founder  of  the  family  which  can  boast 
of  Andrew  Jackson  and  his  descendants,  Kemble  Jackson  and 
Long  Island  Black  Hawk,  Lantern,  Awful,  John  H.,  Cozette, 
Henry  Clay,  George  M.  Patchen,and  Hopeful.  Andrew  Jackson's 
history  reads  like  a  romance. 

About  day-break  one  fine  morning  in  April,  1827,  as  an  early 
riser  was  passing  by  Daniel  Jeffrey's  brick-yard,  on  the  German- 
town  road,  near  Philadelphia,  he  heard  a  woeful  splashing  of 
water,  and  saw  on  the  banks  of  a  deserted  clay-pit  a  coal-black 
mare  vainly  endeavoring  to  get  her  new-born  colt  out  of  the  water, 
into  which  it  had  fallen.  The  good  Samaritan  first  dragged  the 
half-drowned  little  creature  on  the  banks  and  laid  it  at  the  feet  of 
the  sorrowing  mother,  and  then  aroused  Mr.  Jeffrey's  household,  who 
brought  the  colt  to  the  house,  where  it  was  gradually  nursed  back  to 
life.  By  noon  it  was  able  to  support  itself  on  its  pastern  joints,  but 
for  days  it  could  not  stand  fairly  on  its  feet,  and  so  pitiable  was  its 
condition,  that  one  morning,  at  the  breakfast  table,  Mr.  Jeffrey 
offered  to  give  any  of  the  apprentices  a  dollar  to  put  it  out  of 
its  misery,  and  bury  it  out  of  his  sight.  But  the  motherly 
sympathies  of  good  Mrs.  Jeffrey  went  out  towards  the  helpless 
little  creature,  and  she  indignantly  replied  that  "the  boy  who 
would  kill  that  colt  should  never  eat  another  mouthful  at  that 
table."  Her  good  ofl&ces  did  not  end  here.  Bay  by  day  she 
rubbed  and  bandaged  the  weak  limbs,  until  the  colt  could 
stand  upright  on  its  feet,  and  skip  and  play  and  show  off  all 
the  graces  of  colthood.  When  he  was  four  years  old  he 
showed  such  a  fine,  open,  slashing  gait  that  Mr.  John  Weaver, 
who  lived  a  little  over  a  mile  from  the  Hunting  Park  Course, 
bought  him,  and,  being  an  ardent  Democrat,  named  him  Andrew 
Jackson.  He  did  his  two  miles  in  5  m.  20  s.,  5  m.  19  s.,  and  forced 
F]dwin  Forrest  out  when  Gen.  Cadwallader's  horse  made  his  famous 
record.  He  is  even  said  to  have  trotted  a  mile  in  2  m.  30  s.  when 
twelve  years  old,  but  this  is  probably  apocryphal.  As  he  owed  his 
life  t(d  a  woman's   devotion,  so,  when  sixteen  years  old,  he  was 


AMERICAN   TROTTING    HORSE.  23 

to  lose  it  in  a  woman's  behalf.  On  the  night  of  September  19, 1843, 
Mrs.  Weaver  was  very  ill,  and  Andrew  Jackson  was  driven  so  hard, 
to  bring  the  doctor  in  time,  that  he  died  that  night,  and  his  mistress, 
for  whom  his  life  was  willingly  given,  the  next  day.  No  wonder  the 
Weaver  family  still  cherish  his  memory,  and  have  two  paintings  of 
the  old  horse  hanging  in  their  parlor  to-day. 

It  is  not  given  to  many  horses  or  men  to  achieve  immortality  on 
their  first  appearance  in  public  life,  but  such  was  the  happy  fortune 
of  Black  Hawk,  commonly  called  Long  Island  Black  Hawk,  the 
great  son  of  Andrew  Jackson,  when,  on  November  17,  1847,  draw- 
ing a  wagon  weighing  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  he  defeated 
Jenny  Lind,  to  skeleton  wagon,  in  2  m.  40  s.  The  Turf  Register 
says  of  this  performance :  "Taking  into  consideration  that  Black 
Hawk  never  trotted  before,  we  think  that  his  performance  is  the 
most  extraordinary  sporting  event  of  the  season."  Another  son, 
Kemble  Jackson,  was  a  famous  trotter,  and  had  he  lived  would 
undoubtedly  have  taken  high  rank  as  a  long-distance  trotter.  He 
was  a  chestQut  stallion,  with  a  white  hind  foot,  and  very  game,  but 
had  lost  most  of  his  races  from  his  habit  of  throwing  down  his  head 
between  his  knees,  and  breaking  when  he  apparently  had  the  race  at 
his  mercy ;  so  Hiram  Woodruff  invented  the  well-known  Kemble 
Jackson  rein  to  cure  him.  On  the  first  of  June,  1853,  at  the  Union 
Course,  he  was  matched  to  trot  three-mile  heats  to  wagon,  wagon  and 
driver  to  weigh  395  pounds,  against  O'Blenis,  Boston  Girl,  Pet,  lola 
and  Honest  John.  This  race  attracted  great  attention,  and  there 
was  an  immense  attendance  of  people  to  witness  it.  The  contest 
was  mainly  between  the  popular  favorites,  Kemble  Jackson  and 
O'Blenis.  The  latter  was  by  Abdallah,  from  whom  he  inherited 
all  the  fine  characteristics  of  the  Messenger  stock.  Kemble  Jack- 
son won  the  first  heat  easily  in  8  m.  3  s.,  but  O'Blenis  was  still 
the  favorite,  as  almost  every  one  expected  to  see  the  son  of  Andrew 
Jackson  make  one  of  his  characteristic  breaks  when  pushed  by 
O'Blenis;  but  thanks  to  the  efficacy  of  the  newly-invented  rein,  to 
the  amazement  of  the  spectators  he  did  not  make  a  single  break, 
and  won  the  second  heat  and  the  race  easily  in  8  m.  4f  s.;  and  though 
the  time  has  been  frequently  beaten,  this  is  generally  considered 
one  of  the  best  three-mile  races  ever  witnessed  on  Long  Island. 

There  was  another  Black  Hawk  on  the  turf  in  those  early 
days,  who  is  often  confounded  with  Long  Island  Black  Hawk. 
Vermont  Black  Hawk,  as  he  is  generally  called,  was  sired  by 
Sherman,  son  of  Justin  Morgan,  and  was  a  beautiful  jet-black  horse, 
a  little  under  fifteen  hands  high.  A  perfect  roadster  himself,  he 
filled  New  England  and  Eastern  New  York  with  those  trappy,  up- 
headed,  snappy  roadsters  which  are  the  delight  of  all  true  horse- 
men.   Black  Hawk's  early  history  is  singularly  like  that  of  Andrew 


24  A   SHORT    HISTORY   OF   THE 

Jackson,  for  as  a  colt  he  was  so  weak  and  ugly  that  his  dis- 
gusted owner  ordered  hini  killed,  and  only  spared  him  at  the  inter- 
cession of  a  groom.  In  both  cases  the  ugly  ducklings  developed 
into  magnificent  swans.  The  first  eleven  years  of  his  life  he  was 
kept  as  a  family  driving  horse,  and  no  one  could  wish  a  better,  but 
passing  into  the  hands  of  David  Hill,  of  Bridgeport,  Vermont,  his 
latent  talents  were  developed,  and  his  new  master  took  good  caro 
that  his  light  should  not  be  hid  under  a  bushel.  Not  as  fast  as  the 
other  Black  Hawk,  he  fir  surpassed  him  as  a  founder  of  a  family, 
and  his  name  will  long  be  remembered  when  his  contemporaries  are 
forgotten. 

In  the  decade  ending  in  1853,  the  principal  horses  on  the  turf 
were  Dutchman,  Confidence,  Bipton,  Lady  Suffolk,  Americus, 
Moscow,  Long  Island  Black  Hawk,  Lady  Jane,  Duchess,  Lady 
Moscow,  Lady  Sutton,  Lady  Brooks,  Lady  Franklin,  Lady  Litch- 
field, Lady  Collins,  Jack  liossiter,  St.  Lawrence,  Beppo,  Washing- 
ton, Independence,  Zachary  Taylor,  Mac,  Tacony  and  Pelham. 

This  year  saw  also  the  last  of  the  long-distance  races.  Hereafter 
the  speedy  milers  were  to  take  the  place  of  the  stouter  but  slower 
horses  of  past  generations.  The  two  ten-mile  races  between  the 
gray  pacer  Hero  and  the  chestnut  trotter  Prince  were  rightly  con- 
sidered as  settling  the  question  of  the  relative  endurance  of  each 
way  of  going.  Prince  won  both  handily;  the  pacer,  though  very 
game,  giving  out  in  the  sixth  mile  in  the  first  race  and  the 
eighth  mile  in  the  last.  Prince  was  said  to  be  by  the  thorough- 
bred Woodpecker,  out  of  a  mare  by  imp.  Sarpedon,  and,  though  some 
doubt  has  been  thrown  upon  this  pedigree,  his  victories  gave  the 
advocates  of  the  thoroughbred  cross  in  the  trotter  a  "  boost "  which 
has  lasted  them  to  the  present  day. 

Murray's  "Lands  of  the  Slave  and  the  Free"  gives  a  fair  idea 
of  the  American  Trotting  Turf  as  it  then  appeared  to  English  eyes: 

"  The  race-course  is  a  two-mile  distance,  perfectly  level,  on  a 
smooth  and  stoneless  road,  and  forming  a  complete  circle.  Light  trot- 
ting wagons  are  driving  about  in  the  centre,  taking  it  easy  at  sixteen 
miles  an  hour;  outside  are  groups  of  'rowdies'  making  their  books, 
and  looking  out  for  greenhorns,  an  article  not  so  readily  found  at 
Long  Island  as  at  Epsom.  The  race  is  to  be  '  under  the  saddle,' 
and  the  long  list  of  competitors  which  had  been  announced  has 
dwindled  down  to  the  old  and  far-famed  Lady  Suftblk  and  the 
young  and  unfamcd  Tacony.  A  stir  among  the  '  rowdies'  is  seen, 
followed  by  the  appearance  of  Lady  Suffolk.  I  gazed  in  wonder  as 
I  saw  her — a  small  pony-looking  animal,  moving  her  legs  as  though 
they  were  in  splints,  and  as  if  six  miles  an  hour  were  far  beyond 
her  powers.  Soon  after  Tacony  came  forward,  the  picture  of  a 
good  bony  post-horse,  destitute  of  any  beauty,  but  looking  full  of 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  25 

p;ood  stuflF.  The  riders  have  no  distinctive  dress ;  a  pair  of  "Wel- 
lington boots  are  pulled  on  outside  the  trousers  ]  sharp  spurs  are  on 
the  heels — rough-and-ready  looking  prads  these.  The  winning  post 
is  opposite  the  stand;  the  umpire  is  there  with  a  deal  board  in  his 
hand )  a  whack  on  the  side  of  the  stand,  '  summons  to  horse ;'  and 
another,  '■  summons  to  start.'  The  start  is  from  the  distance-post, 
so  as  to  let  the  horses  get  into  the  full  swing  of  their  pace  by  the 
time  they  reach  the  winning-post,  when,  if  they  are  fairly  up  to- 
gether, the  cry  '  oiF'  is  given;  if  it  be  not  given  they  try  again. 
When  speaking  of  the  time  in  which  the  mile  is  completed,  the  fact 
of  its  commencing  at  full  speed  should  always  be  borne  in  mind. 
Sometimes  false  starts  are  made  by  one  party,  on  purpose  to  try  and 
irritate  the  temper  of  the  adversary's  horse  ;  and,  in  the  same  way, 
if  a  man  feels  he  has  full  command  of  his  own  horse,  he  will  yell 
like  a  wild  Indian,  as  he  nears  his  adversary,  to  make  him  '  break 
up,'  or  go  into  a  gallop  ;  and,  as  they  are  all  trained  to  speed  more 
by  voice  than  by  spur,  he  very  often  succeeds,  and  of  course  the 
adversary  loses  much  ground  by  pulling  up  into  a  trot  again.  On 
the  present  occasion  there  was  no  i'alse  start;  the  echo  of  the 
second  whack  was  still  in  the  ear  as  they  reached  the  winning-pcst 
neck-and-neck.  '  Off'  was  the  word,  and  away  they  went.  It 
certainly  was  marvellous  to  see  how  dear  old  Lady  Suffolk  and  her 
stiff  legs  flew  round  the  course ;  one  might  have  fancied  she  had 
been  fed  on  lightning,  so  quick  did  she  move  them,  but  with  won- 
derfully short  steps.  Tack,  on  the  contrary,  looked  as  if  he  had 
been  dieted  on  India-rubber  balls.  Every  time  he  raised  a  hind- 
leg  it  seemed  to  shoot  to  his  own  length  ahead  of  himself;  if  he 
could  have  made  his  steps  as  quick  as  the  old  Lady,  he  might  have 
done  a  mile  in  a  minute  nearly.  Presently  Tacony  breaks  up,  and 
ere  he  pulls  into  a  trot  a  long  gap  is  left;  shouts  of  '  Lady  Suffolk  ! 
Lady  Suffolk  wins  !'  rend  the  air;  a  few  seconds  more  and  the 
giant  strides  of  Tacony  lessen  the  gap  at  every  step ;  they  reach  the 
distance-post  neck-and-neck:  'Tacony  wins  !'  is  the  cry;  and  true 
enough  it  is,  by  a  length.  Young  blood  beats  old  blood ;  India- 
rubber  balls  '  whip'  lightning.  Time,  5  m.  The  usual  excitement 
and  disputes  follow ;  the  usual  time  elapses,  whack  number  one  is 
heard — all  ready — whack  number  two;  on  they  come;  snaffle- 
bridles — pulling  at  their  horses'  mouths  as  though  they  would  pull 
the  bit  right  through  to  the  tips  of  their  tails.  '  Off !'  is  the  cry ; 
away  they  go  again.  Tacony  breaks  up ;  again  a  gap,  which  huge 
strides  speedily  close  up  again — Tacony  wins.  Time,  5  m.  5  s." 
In  another  part  of  his  travels  in  America,  the  same  gentleman 
alludes  to  another  locality: — "The  race-course  at  Philadelphia  is  a 
road  on  a  perfect  level,  and  a  circle  of  one  mile ;  every  stone  is 
carefully  removed,  and  it  looks  as  smooth  and  clean  as  a  swept 


26  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OF   THE 

floor.  The  stand  commands  a  perfect  view  of  the  course,  but  its 
neglected  appearance  shows  clearly  that  trotting-matchcs  here  are 
not  as  foshionable  as  they  used  to  be,  though  far  better  attended 
than  at  New  York.  Upon  the  present  occasion  the  excitement  was 
intense;  you  could  detect  it  even  in  the  increased  vigor  with  which 
the  smoking  and  spitting  were  carried  on.  An  antagonist  had  been 
found  bold  enough  to  measure  speed  with  '  Mac' — the  great  Mac, 
who,  while  '  whipping  creation,'  was  also  said  never  to  have  let  out 
his  full  speed.  He  was  thoroughbred,  about  15  J  hands,  and 
lighter  built  than  my  rawboned  friend  Tacony,  and  he  had  lately 
been  sold  for  1600^.  So  sure  did  people,  apparently,  feel  of  Mac's 
easy  victory,  that  even  betting  was  out  of  the  question.  Unlike 
the  Long  Island  affair,  the  riders  appeared  in  jockey  attire,  and  the 
whole  thing  was  far  better  got  up.  Ladies,  however,  had  long 
ceased  to  grace  such  scenes.  Various  false  starts  were  made,-  all 
on  the  part  of  Mac,  who,  trusting  to  the  bottom  of  blood,  apparently 
endeavored  to  ruffle  Tacony's  temper,  and  weary  him  out  a  little. 
How  futile  were  the  efforts  the  sequel  plainly  showed.  At  length 
a  start  was  effected  and  away  they  went,  Tacony  with  his  hind  legs 
as  far  apart  as  the  centre  arch  of  Westminster  Bridge,  and  with 
strides  that  would  almost  clear  the  Bridgewater  canal.  Mac's  rider 
soon  found  that  in  trying  to  ginger  Tacony's  temper  he  had  pep- 
pered his  own  horse's,  for  he  broke  up  into  a  gallop  twice.  Old 
Tacony  and  his  rider  had  evidently  got  intimate  since  I  had  seen 
them  at  New  York,  and  they  now  thoroughly  understood  each 
other.  On  he  went  with  giant  strides;  Mac  fought  bravely  for  the 
van,  but  could  not  get  his  nose  beyond  Tacony's  saddle-girth  at  the 
winning-post.  Time,  2  m.  25  J  s.  Then  followed  the  usual  race- 
course accompaniments  of  cheers,  squabbles,  growling,  laughing, 
betting,  drinking,  &c.  The  public  were  not  conviuced;  Mac  was 
still  the  favorite ;  the  champion  chaplet  was  not  thus  hastily  to  be 
plucked  from  his  hitherto  victorious  brow.  Half  an  hour's  rest 
brought  them  again  to  the  starting-post,  when  Mac  repeated  his 
old  tactics,  and  with  similar  bad  success.  Nothing  could  ruffle 
Tacony,  or  produce  one  false  step ;  he  flew  round  the  course,  every 
stride  like  the  ricochet  of  a  32-lb.  shot.  His  adversary  broke  up 
again  and  again,  losing  both  his  temper  and  his  place,  and  barely 
saved  his  distance  as  the  gallant  Tacony,  his  rider  with  a  slack  rein 
and  patting  him  on  the  neck,  reached  the  winning-post.  Time, 
2  m.  25 J  s.  The  shouts  were  long  and  loud;  such  time  had  never 
been  made  before  by  fair  trotting,  and  Tacony  evidently  could  have 
done  it  in  two  if  not  three  seconds  less.  The  fastest  pacing  ever 
accomplished  before  was  2  m.  17 1  s. ;  and  the  fastest  trotting,  2  m. 
2G  s.  The  triumph  was  complete,  Tacony  nobly  won  the  victorious 
garland ;  and  as  long  as  he  and  his  rider  go  together,  it  will  take, 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  27 

if  not  a  mm  'un  to  look  at,  at  all  events  a  d — 1   to  go,  ere  he  be 
forced  to  resign  his  championship/' 

The  clever  Englishman  is  too  enthusiastic  in  his  estimate  of 
Tacony.  He  was  indeed  a  good  horse,  but  capable  judges  of  their 
respective  merits  esteem  Mac  the  better  of  the  two.  The  latter's 
day  was  indeed  a  short  one,  but  his  triumphs  were  neither  few  nor 
far  between,  and  were  achieved  over  the  most  famous  trotters  of 
that  day,  Flora  Temple  alone  excepted.  Hiram  Woodruff  in  his 
"  Trotting  Horse  of  America"  says,  "  They  were  very  close  together 
when  in  condition,  but  Mac  had  a  little  the  best  of  the  roan,  in  my 
judgment,  until  he  was  injured  by  over-driving  and  got  '  the 
thumps.' " 

Scarcely  had  the  star  of  Lady  Suffolk  set  behind  the  horizon 
when  another  star  arose  whose  glory  was  to  eclipse  even  that  of  the 
gallant  gray  mare.  Flora  Temple  was  foaled  in  1845  in  Oneida 
Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  made  her  debut  in  the  summer  of  1850,  and  from 
that  time  to  her  forced  retirement  in  18G1,  her  career  was  one  of 
almost  uninterrupted  victory.  During  her  career  on  the  turf  she 
trotted  one  hundred  and  eleven  races,  winning  ninety  three,  and 
earning  for  her  owners  in  purses  and  stakes  the  sum  of  $113,000. 
She  was  a  blood  bay,  by  One-Eyed  Kentucky  Hunter  out  of 
Madame  Temple,  who  was  got  by  a  spotted  horse  said  to  be  an 
Arabian.  She  was  142^  hands  high,  with  black  legs,  mane  and 
tail,  and  had  a  peculiarly  quick  and  nervous  gait.  When  she  was 
but  an  hour  old  her  breeder,  Mr.  Tracy,  cut  off  her  tail  with  his 
jack-knife  so  short  that  she  was  for  some  time  afterwards  known  as 
the  "  stump-tailed  filly."  Mr.  Tracy  kept  her  until  she  was  four 
years  old,  when,  finding  her  willful  and  unserviceable,  he  disposed  of 
her  to  Mr.  William  H.  Congdon,  of  Smyrna,  Chenango  county,  for 
the  sum  of  thirteen  dollars.  Mr.  Congdon  shortly  afterwards  dis- 
posed of  her  to  Kelly  &  Richardson  for  $68.  After  passing  through 
several  hands,  part  of  the  time  working  in  a  livery  stable,  she  was 
sold  to  Mr.  George  E.  Perrin,  of  New  York,  for  $350,  in  whose 
hands  the  flighty  young  mare  became  a  true  stepper.  Her  first 
regular  appearance  on  the  turf  was  at  the  Union  Course,  L.  I., 
September  9,  1850,  where,  a  mere  outsider,  to  the  astonishment  of 
the  turf  habitues,  she  defeated  Whitehall  and  three  others,  for  the 
magnificent  purse  of  $50,  in  2  m.  55  s.,  2  m.  52  s.,  and  2  m.  49  s., 
after  Whitehall  had  won  the  first  heat  in  2  m.  52  s.  The  next  year, 
owing  to  an  accident,  she  was  not  in  training,  and  in  1852  she 
trotted  but  two  races,  both  of  which  she  won;  but  in  1853  she 
entered  in  earnest  upon  her  wonderful  career,  trotting  twenty-one 
races  and  winning  seventeen  of  them.  Her  first  race  that  year  was 
at  the  old  Hunting  Park  Course,  Philadelphia,  where  she  was 
beaten  by  Black  Douglas,  a  horse  of  some  local  celebrity,  but  after- 


28  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OP   THE 

wards  beat  him  twice  without  much  difRculty.  She  also  beat 
Highland  Maid  twice,  Green  Mountain  Maid  three  times,  Tacony 
seven  times,  Khode  Island  three  times,  and  Lady  Brooks  and 
Lady  Vernon  each  once.  She  suffered  defeat  from  Tacony,  and 
once  each  from  J^lack  Douglas  and  Green  Mountain  Maid.  The 
next  year  she  defeated  Mac,  Lady  Brooks,  Jack  Waters,  and 
Green  Mountain  Maid,  and  was  beaten  but  once — by  Green 
Mountain  Maid.  In  1855,  after  being  defeated  in  her  opening 
race  by  the  gray  inare  Sontag,  and  then  vainly  endeavoring  to 
trot  twenty  miles  against  time,  she  won  six  races  right  off  the  reel, 
defeating  Lancet,  Sontag,  Lady  Franklin,  Chicago  Jack,  Miller's 
Damsel,  Frank  Forrester,  and  Hero  the  pacer.  The  next  two 
years  were  principally  distinguished  by  her  contests  with  the  slashing 
black  gelding  Lancet,  in  which  she  carried  off  most  of  the  honors, 
although  she  also  found  time  to  meet  and  conquer  Tacony,  Chicago 
Jack,  Rose  of  Washington,  Ethan  Allen,  and  others,  and  reduced 
her  record  to  2  m.  241-  s.  In  1858  she  was  sold  to  Mr.  William 
McDonald,  a  wealthy  gentleman  of  Baltimore,  for  $8000,  and 
during  the  year  scored  thirteen  victories  without  a  single  defeat. 
Her  first  race  in  1859  was  with  Ethan  Allen,  at  the  Fashion 
Course,  to  wagon.  Ethan  Allen  was  a  beautiful  horse,  fast  and 
game,  with  faultless  trotting  action,  but  withal  not  a  good  weight 
puller.  With  a  running  mate  to  take  the  weight  of  the  wagon  off 
of  him  he  could  trot  like  a  flash  of  light,  but  by  himself  his  fastest 
time  is  2  m.  25^  s.  At  the  stud  he  was  a  success,  and  his  sons 
and  grandsons  have  done  much  to  add  to  the  fame  of  the  Morgan 
fiimily.  On  this  occasion  Flora  beat  him  in  the  quick  time 
of  2  m.  25  s.,  2  m.  27?  s.,  and  2  m.  27^  s.  On  June  16,  she  met 
the  bay  mare  Princess,  who  had  come  from  California  with  a  great 
reputation,  especially  as  a  long-distance  trotter,  but  Flora  beat  her, 
at  the  Eclipse  Course,  three-mile  heats,  to  wagon,  in  7  m.  54  s., 
and  7  m.  59 1  s.  In  their  second  encounter  at  the  same  place, 
twelve  days  later.  Princess  won  in  straight  heats,  in  5  m.  2  s.  and 
5  m.  5  s.,  and  many  astute  turfmen  thought  that  the  little  bay 
mare  had  met  her  mistress;  but  their  third  time  of  meeting  Flora 
won  in  the  quick  time  for  those  days  of  2  m.  23^  s.,  2  m.  22  s., 
and  2  m.  23 ?  s.,  and  in  the  fourth  encounter — a  race  of  two-mile 
heats — she  likewise  beat  her,  in  the  marvellous  time  of  4  m  50^  s. 
and  5  m.  5  s.  These  defeats  settled  the  question  of  supremacy, 
and  conquered  the  spirit  of  the  California  mare,  and,  though  they 
afterwards  went  on  a  hippodroming  tour  through  the  country. 
Princess  never  won  another  race  from  her.  But  Flora's  greatest 
glory  was  to  come.  On  October  15,  1859,  at  Kalamazoo,  JMichigan, 
in  a  race  with  Princess  and  Honest  Anse,  she  electrified  the  whole 
country  by  trotting  the  third  heat  in  2  m.  19^  s.,  which  for  eight 


AMERICAN   TROTTING    HORSE.  '    29 

years  stood  at  the  head  of  the  record,  until  the  mighty  Dexter 
surpassed  it  at  Buffalo  in  1867. 

After  this  great  exploit  Flora  went  to  Cleveland,  where  she  beat 
Princess  with  great  ease  and  in  poor  time ;  and  at  Cuyahoga  Falls, 
on  the  28th  of  October,  she  did  the  same  for  Ike  Cooke.  After 
the  crushing  defeats  of  poor  Princess,  few  imagined  that  any  horse 
would  be  so  bold  as  to  challenge  the  little  bay  mare's  premiership. 
But  now  the  Jersey  stallion  G-eorge  M.  Patch  en  threw  down  the 
gauntlet,  and  at  the  Union  Course,  November  21,  they  met  in  the 
first  of  those  memorable  contests,  the  recital  of  which  even  now  causes 
the  cheeks  of  the  old  turfman  to  burn  with  excitement.  George  M. 
Patchen  was  four  years  her  j  unior,  being  foaled  in  1849,  and  was  very 
well  bred,  his  sire  being  Cassius  M.  Clay,  and  his  dam  by  a  son  of 
Imported  Trustee  out  of  a  daughter  of  American  Eclipse.  He  was 
a  powerful  brown  horse,  above  16  hands  high,  with  great  strength 
and  much  bone.  He  was  coarse  about  the  head,  and  heavy  in  the 
carcass ;  but,  though  he  was  what  might  be  called  a  plain  horse, 
his  points  were  uncommonly  strong  and  good,  and  his  action  capital. 
He  had  defeated  such  horses  as  Lancet,  Brown  Dick,  Lady  Wood- 
ruff, Miller's  Damsel,  and  Pilot,  and  was  no  mean  opponent  even 
for  the  little  bay  mare  ;  but  to  make  the  match  more  open,  she  was 
to  go  in  harness  while  he  went  under  the  saddle.  The  mare  won 
the  first  two  heats,  in  2m.  28  s.  and  2m.  23  s.,  with  the  stallion  close 
up  in  each.  In  the  third.  Flora  was  first  over  the  score,  in  2  m.  24  s., 
but  it  was  given  to  Patchen,  because  of  her  crossing  him  and  run- 
ning.. Darkness  coming  on,  the  race  was  postponed,  and  never 
trotted  out.  On  June  6,  1850,  Flora  and  Patchen  met  for  the 
second  time.  Hiram  Woodruff  thus  describes  the  race  :  "  It  came 
off  on  the  6th  of  June,  over  the  Union  Course.  The  start  was 
even ;  but  Flora  soon  made  a  skip,  and  the  stallion  got  the  lead ; 
but  the  mare  caught,  and,  going  on  with  uncommon  resolution, 
headed  him,  and  led  a  length  at  the  quarter  in  35  s.  On  the 
straight  work,  she  drew  away  a  little  more ;  but  the  stallion  now 
made  a  great  burst  of  speed,  and  she  broke.     At  the  half-mile,  in 

1  m.  11  s.,  he  had  a  lead  of  a  length,  and  soon  increased  it  to  two 
lengths ;  but,  upon  the  turn,  the  mare  squared  herself,  drew  up  to 
him,  and  came  in  to  the  stretch  with  him.  The  struggle  home  was 
one  of  the  fastest  and  closest  things  that  ever  were  seen.  They 
came  on  neck-and-neck  at  an  amazing  rate;  and  within  three 
strides  of  home  it  seemed  to  be  a  dead  heat.  McMann,  at  the 
very  last,  struck  Flora  sharply  with  the  whip,  let  go  of  her  head, 
and  with  one  desperate  effort  she  was  first,  by  a  throat-latch,  in 

2  m.  21  s.,  the  best  time  that  we  had  then  seen  on  the  Island. 
The  last  half-mile  had  been  trotted  in  Im.  10  s.,  and  was  a  neck- 
and-neck  race  nearly  all  the  way.     In  the  second  heat,  Flora  was 


30  "  A    SHORT    HISTORY   OF   THE 

two  lengths  ahead  at  the  quarter-pole ;  and  Patchen  breaking  on 
the  back-stretch,  her  lead  was  three  lengths  at  the  half-mile.  On 
the  lower  turn  he  closed  the  daylight;  and  another  very  hard, 
close  struggle  up  the  home-stretch  ended  in  his  defeat  by  only  a 
neck  in  2  m.  24  s.  Tallman  made  an  appeal  after  this  heat,  alleging 
that  McMann  had  driven  foul,  by  swerving  out,  and  compelling  him 
to  go  to  the  extreme  outside.  The  judges  disagreed ;  but  the  ma- 
jority overruled  the  objection.  In  the  third  heat  they  got  off  well 
together.  On  the  turn  she  led  slightly,  being  on  the  inside,  and  at 
the  quarter,  in  36  s.,  she  led  him  nearly  a  length.  He  now  made 
a  wonderful  effort,  and  trotted  one  of  the  best  quarters  that  I  have 
ever  seen.  He  was  nearly  a  length  behind  at  the  quarter-pole,  in 
3G  s.;  at  the  half-mile  pole,  in  1  m.  10  s.,  he  led.  Therefore,  he 
trotted  this,  the  second  quarter  in  the  third  heat,  in  better  than 
34  s.  On  the  lower  turn,  he  led  two  lengths.  But  the  mare  now 
gathered  herself  up  for  one  of  her  rushes,  and  closed  with  him. 
Up  the  stretch  it  was  again  close  and  hot.  But  she  had  a  little 
\k\Q  best  of  it,  and  at  the  very  last  pinch  he  broke.  She  won  in 
2  m.  21j  s.  I  consider  this  the  best  race  that  Flora  Temple  ever 
made ;  and  as  the  stallion  was  so  little  behind  her  that  the  differ- 
ence could  not  be  appreciated  by  timing,  it  shows  what  a  remarkable 
and  excellent  horse  he  also  was."  On  the  12th  of  June,  they 
trotted  two-mile  heats  in  harness,  at  the  Union  Course,  and  Patchen 
won  in  two  straight  heats,  in  4  m.  58 i  s.  and  4  m.  57  J  s.  Two 
matches  were  then  made,  to  be  trotted  at  Suffolk  Park,  Philadelphia, 
the  first,  mile  heats,  three  in  five ;  the  second,  two-mile  heats.  The 
first  of  them  was  trotted  on  the  4th  of  July,  and  Flora  won  in 
2  m.  221  s.,  2  m.  21f  s.,  and  2m.  37*  s.  On  the  10th  of  July,  they 
trotted  the  two-mile  heat.  Patchen  won  the  first  heat,  in  4  m.  51^  s., 
and  would  have  won  the  second  but  for  the  outrageous  interference 
of  a  mob,  who  threw  clubs  and  hats  in  his  face  when  he  had  the  race 
well  in  hand,  and  frightened  him.  He  was  then  withdrawn,  and 
Flora  declared  the  winner.  At  the  Union  Course,  August  2,  they 
met  again.  Patchen  won  the  first  heat  in  2  m.  23J  s.,  which  is 
his  best  record,  and  Flora  the  last  three,  in  2  m.  22^  s.,  2  m.  23  J-  s., 
and  2  m.  25f  s.  At  Saugus,  Mass.,  August  28,  she  beat  him  again, 
and  at  the  Centreville  Course,  September  24,  she  beat  him  two-mile 
heats,  in  4  m.  551  s.  and  5  m.  After  the  failure  of  Flora  to  beat 
Dutchman's  time,  they  started  out  upon  a  hippodroming  tour 
upon  much  the  same  principles  as  those  which  controlled  in  her 
campaign  with  Princess,  and  with  the  same  results  :  Flora  taking 
all  the  honors,  and  the  gate-money  being  equally  divided  between 
them.  After  the  last  of  these  exhibition  trots  at  Corning,  Octo- 
ber 31,  Patchen  was  sent  to  the  stud,  and  though  he  afterwards 
came  out  and  fought  the  famous  series  of  battles  with  General 


AMERICAN   TROTTING    HORSE.  31 

Butler,  he  never  met  Flora  again,  and  died  May,  1864,  leaving 
a  reputation  of  which  his  numerous  descendants  may  well  be 
proud. 

Her  reputation  was  now  so  well  established  that  it  was  difficult 
for  the  mare  to  find  any  horse  bold  enough  to  contend  with  hor ; 
but  at  length  a  new  antagonist  put  in  an  appearance  in  John  Mor- 
gan, but  in  two  races  at  the  Centreville  Course  in  June,  1861,  mile 
heats  and  two-mile  heats,  he  was  beaten  in  the  mile  race  in  2  m. 
24|  s.,  2  m.  26  s.,  and  2  m.  28i  s.,  and  in  the  two-mile  race  in 
4  m.  55^  s.  and  4  m.  52 i  s.  Flora's  owner,  Mr.  McDonald, 
sympathizing  with  the  rebellion,  soon  after  these  races  she  was 
confiscated  by  the  government,  and  her  trotting  days  were  ended. 
She  was  sold  in  1864  to  Mr.  A.  Welch,  the  princely  owner  of 
Leamington  and  Alarm,  for  $8000,  and  at  his  beautiful  farm  at 
Chestnut  Hill  roamed  the  meadows  in  her  well-earned  leisure.  Her 
first  foal_  was  a  filly  by  Rysdyk,  son  of  Rysdyk's  Hambletonian, 
called  Kitty  Temple,  who  has  never  shown  any  great  speed.  Her 
second  foal  was  the  stallion  Prince  Imperial,  by  William  Welch,  a 
handsome,  wiry  little  horse,  full  of  courage  and  vim.  Her  third 
and  last  foal  was  a  filly  by  Imported  Leamington.  Flora  Temple 
died  December  21,  1877,  and  was  buried  in  the  lawn  at  Chestnut 
Hill.  While  I  write  there  is  on  the  desk  before  me  her  fore-leg 
and  hoof,  stuffed  and  mounted  by  Krider  in  his  most  artistic  style, 
and  though  she  was  over  thirty-two  years  old  at  the  time  of  her 
death,  and  had  been  on  the  turf  for  eleven  years,  trotting  as  few 
horses  ever  trotted,  there  is  not  a  single  break  or  crack  in  the  neat, 
deerlike  hoof;  it  is  as  sound  and  true  as  when  she  was  foaled. 

During  the  first  years  of  the  great  Kebellion  the  turf  languished 
well  nigh  unto  death — "  Inter  arma  leges  silent" — and  few  cared 
for  the  mimic  contests  of  the  turf,  when  on  the  great  battle-fields 
of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  the  fate  of  the  nation  was  being 
decided  amid  the  clash  of  arms  and  the  thunder  of  cannon.  The 
sporting  papers  yielded  to  the  changed  state  of  affairs,  and  the 
editorials  of  the  "  Spirit  of  the  Times"  now  breathed  forth  threat- 
enings  and  slaughter,  and  paid  but  little  attention  to  aught  but  the 
stirring  news  of  the  day.  Even  their  correspondence  was  dated 
from  the  camps  on  the  Potomac  or  Rappahannock,  and  now  told  only 
of  marches  and  countermarches  and  the  details  of  army  life.  In 
the  Fall  of  1862  the  turf  revived  somewhat  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  New  York,  and  Lady  Emma  and  Jilt,  and  G-eneral 
Butler  and  Rockingham,  trotted  several  notable  races,  and  Greorge 
Wilkes,  the  first  of  Hambletonian's  sons  to  show  to  the  world  tlie 
merits  of  that  greatest  family  of  trotters,  made  his  first  appearance, 
defeating  Ethan  Allen  in  three  straight  heats,  in  2  m.  24|  s., 
2  m.  25|  s.,  and  2  m.  31  s.     George  Wilkes  is  a  dark  brown  stal- 


32  A   SHORT    HISTORY   OF   THE 

lion,  15  hands  high,  got  by  Rysdyk's  Hambletonian  out  of  a  Clay 
mare  called  Dolly  Spanker,  and  great  as  were  his  performances,  he 
would  in  all  probability  have  attained  still  greater  distinction  on  the 
turf  had  he  been  more  judiciously  handled  and  not  trotted  such 
severe  races  before  his  powers  had  fully  matured.  He  died  in 
Kentucky  May  28,  1882,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  the  greatest  of 
all  the  Hambletonian  stallions  except  Volunteer.  In  1863  General 
Butler,  G-eorge  Wilkes,  George  M.  Patchen,  Silas  Rich,  California 
Damsel,  and  Shark,  another  son  of  Hambletonian,  were  all  on  the 
turf,  and  had  it  been  any  other  than  a  war  year  would  have  won 
even  greater  glory  than  fell  to  their  share. 

In  the  history  of  all  nations  there  are  certain  epochs  or  cycles 
which  are  so  resplendent  with  the  deeds  of  some  statesman  or  gen- 
eral or  monarch,  that  they  serve  as  mile  stones  along  the  pathway 
of  the  ages  and  landmarks  by  which  we  count  the  progress  of 
events ;  so  in  the  history  of  the  turf  there  have  been  periods  when 
the  pre-eminence  of  certain  horses  was  so  marked  that  to  mention  the 
years  in  which  they  flourished  is  but  to  recall  their  names.  From 
1838  to  1852  had  been  the  era  of  Lady  Suffolk  and  her  famous 
contemporaries.  Flora  Temple  had  flourished  from  that  date  until 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  and  now  was  to  commence  what  might 
be  called  the  age  of  the  Hambletonians,  for  descendants  of  Ilysdyk^s 
Hambletonian,  the  old  hero  of  Chester,  were  now  making  that  name 
on  the  turf  which  they  have  held  to  the  present  day.  The  war 
clouds  were  now  breaking  away ;  it  could  plainly  be  seen  that  the 
days  of  the  Confederacy  were  numbered ;  business  was  prosperous, 
and  the  number  of  wealthy  men  interested  in  driving  horses  had 
wonderfully  increased.  The  turf  was  now  to  enter  upon  a  career 
of  prosperity,  and  every  large  city  all  over  the  Union  was  to  have 
its  trotting  course. 

The  4th  of  May,  18G4,  will  ever  be  a  red-letter  day  in  the 
memory  of  all  turfmen,  for  that  day  witnessed  the  first  public 
appearance  of  Dexter  the  incomparable.  He  was  foaled  in  Orange 
County,  New  York,  in  1858.  His  sire  was  Rysdyk's  Hamble- 
tonian, and  his  dam  was  a  daughter  of  American  Star.  He  is  15 
hands  li  inches  high,  and  is  a  rich  brown  in  color,  with  four  white 
legs,  and  a  blaze  in  the  face. 

It  was  on  the  Fashion  Course,  where  he  beat  Stonewall  Jackson, 
of  New  York,  General  Grant,  and  Lady  Collins.  Two  days  after 
he  beat  the  last  named  again  on  the  Union  Course.  On  the 
13th  of  May  he  defeated  Doty's  mare  to  wagon  on  the  Union 
Course,  and  five  dnys  afterwards,  at  the  Fashion  Course,  he  beat 
Shark  and  Lady  Shannon,  and  jogged  out  the  third  heat  in  2  m. 
30  s.  On  the  3d  of  June  he  trotted  mile  heats  to  wagon,  at  the 
Fashion,  against  Shark  and  Hambletonian,  but  he  hit  his.  knee  in 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  33 

scoring  and  had  to  be  withdrawn.  He  did  not  trot  any  more  that 
year,  but  on  June  2, 1865,  he  came  out  and  defeated  Greneral  Butler 
at  the  Fashion  Course,  trotting  the  third  heat  in  2  m.  24^  s.  Ten 
days  afterwards  he  was  pitted  against  the  mighty  Lady  Thorne,  who 
had  a  few  days  previously  trotted  in  2  m.  24^  s.,  but  the  lady  beat 
him  in  four  heats,  the  best  of  which  was  2  m.  24  s.  This  was  the 
only  time  Lady  Thorne  ever  beat  him.  June  26th,  Dexter 
defeated  ^Stonewall  Jackson,  of  Hartford,  three-mile  heats,  to 
saddle,  and  then  beat  General  Butler,  to  saddle,  and  Butler 
and  George  Wilkes,  in  harness,  in  straight  heats,  in  both  races. 
He  was  then  backed  to  trot  against  time  and  beat  2  m.  19  s.,  and 
won  easily  in  the  first  trial,  in  2  m.  18^  s.  He  then  defeated  Gen- 
eral Butler  on  the  Fashion  Course,  to  wagons,  in  2  m.  27i  s.  and  2 
m.  29  s.  On  the  27th  of  October  the  horses  met  again,  two-mile 
heats,  to  wagons.  Butler  had  a  two-mile  record  to  wagon  of  4  m. 
56 i  s.,  and  was  considered  a  fit  antagonist  for  the  young  champion. 
Dexter,  however,  won  easily  in  two  straight  heats,  in  5  m.  f  s.  and 

4  m.  56J  s.,  and  closed  his  second  season  in  a  blaze  of  glory. 

He  commenced  the  season  of  1866  by  defeating  General  Butler 
and  Commodore  Yanderbilt,  in  two  races  at  the  Union  Course,  the 
California  stallion,  George  M.  Patchen,  Jr.,  also  being  in  the  first  of 
them.  He  had  now  become  so  famous  that  there  was  a  general 
desire  all  over  the  country  to  see  him,  and  a  hippodroming  cam- 
paign, with  the  California  stallion,  was  arranged,  in  which  Dexter 
invariably  won.  In  1867  he  defeated  Goldsmith  Maid  once  and 
Lady  Thorne  three  times,  and  then,  despairing  of  finding  any  one 
to  make  him  extend  himself,  a  match  was  arranged  on  the  Fashion 
Course  between  him  and  Ethan  Allen  and  running  mate.  The  team, 
contrary  to  general  expectation,  won  in  three  straight  heats,  in  2  m. 
15  s.,  2  m.  16  s.,  and  2  m.  19  s.  Dexter's  real  time,  though,  of 
course,  not  a  matter  of  record,  was  2  m.  16  s.,  2  m.  17  s.,  and 
2  m.  21  s.  Mr.  Charles  J.  Foster,  in  an  admirable  essay  in 
Wallace's  Monthly,  says  of  this  race :  "  This,  though  a  losing  one, 
was  the  best  performance  Dexter  ever  made  upon  the  course.  To 
trot  mile  after  mile  at  such  a  rate,  against  winning  opponents, 
runner  and  trotter  on  the  outside,  and  never  to  flinch  an  inch, 
manifests  the  most  admirable  resolution.  He  never  broke,  tur^ 
was  not  forced  out  at  the  end  of  the  heats.  I  never  saw  another 
trotter  that  could,  in  my  estimation,  have  stood  the  pinch.  I  have 
seen  some  very  fast  ones  that  would  have  gone  all  to  pieces  when 
collared  in  the  second  heat,-  as  Dexter  was.^'  Eight  days  after  this- 
severe  race  he  defeated  Lady  Thorne,  two-mile  heats,  to  wagon,  in 

5  m.  1  s.  and  5  m.  9  s. ;  and  on  July  4th,  he  met  with  his  second 
defeat  from  Ethan  Allen  and  running  mate,  over  the  half-mile 
track  at  Morristown,  N.  J.     On  July  10,  at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  he  and 


34  A   SHORT    HISTORY    OF   THE 

Lady  Thorne  met  for  the  last  time,  and  with  the  usual  result. 
On  the  16th,  he  beat  Brown  George  and  running  mate  at  Albany, 
and  trotted  the  second  and  third  heats  in  2  m.  20  J  s.  He  beat 
them  again  at  Providence,  July  26.  And  on  the  30th,  he  beat 
them  again  at  the  Riverside  half-mile  course,  Boston.  In  this 
race  he  made  2  m.  21f  s.,  2  m.  19  s.,  and  2  m.  21i  s.  After  that, 
at  Buffalo,  he  beat  his  Boston  time  by  trotting  a  mile  in  2  m.  17 i  s., 
and  hardly  had  the  time  been  given  out,  and  while  the  vast  audi- 
ence was  still  cheering,  when  the  well-known  form  of  Mr.  Robert 
Bonner  was  seen  entering  the  judges'  stand.  As  he  rarely  pat- 
ronized the  race-track,  and  never  allowed  his  horses  to  trot  for 
money,  every  one  wondered  what  it  meant.  In  a  few  minutes  the 
judges  announced  that  Dexter  had  been  purchased  for  $35,000.  His 
new  owner  sent  this  characteristic  message  to  a  friend  in  New  York  : 
"  I  saw  Niagara  Falls  this  morning  for  the  first  time,  and  I  came  down 
here  this  afternoon  to  see  that  other  great  wonder,  Dexter,  when  he 
trotted  in  the  unprecedented  time  of  2  m.  17i  s.  You  know  I  like  to 
own  all  the  best  things,  and  inasmuch  as  I  could  not  buy  the  Falls, 
I  thought  I  would  do  the  next  best  thing  and  buy  Dexter.  He  will 
go  into  my  stable  on  the  tenth  of  next  month."  Mr.  Bonner  was 
a  Scotchman,  and  had  an  eye  to  business  in  purchasing  Dexter. 
He  foresaw  that  it  would  be  chronicled  in  all  the  newspapers  and 
the  New  York  Ledger  obtain  a  notoriety  that  no  amount  of  ordi- 
nary advertising  would  have  given  it.  He  has  since  stated  that  it 
was  the  cheapest  advertisement  he  ever  made.  Dexter  died  at  Mr. 
Bonner's  stable  in  New  York,  April  21,  1888,  aged  thirty  years. 

After  Dexter's  retirement'  came  the  ladies'  era,  when  the  three 
great  mares.  Lady  Thorne,  Goldsmith  Maid,  and  American  Girl 
contended  for  the  mastery. 

Of  this  brilliant  coterie  Lady  Thorne,  the  big,  one-eyed,  thorough- 
bred mare  from  Kentucky,  was  easily  the  first.  Standing  full  16^- 
hands  high,  with  a  good  head  and  neck,  deep  shoulders,  remark- 
able withers,  long-bodied  and  leggy,  she  was  one  of  the  most  blood- 
like and  thoroughbred  trotters  that  ever  stepped  the  turf.  She  had 
lost  an  eye  accidentally,  and  had  an  enlarged  ankle  behind  from 
her  kicking  propensities  when  breaking,  and  was  unusually  fiery 
and  high  spirited.  Her  breeding  was  right  royal.  Her  sire  was 
Mambrino  Chief,  and  her  dam  a  daughter  of  the  thoroughbred 
Gano,  a  son  of  the  famous  American  Eclipse.  Her  career  was 
worthy  of  such  high  lineage,  and  as  she  stole  around  the  course 
with  that  low,  long,  sweeping  stride  of  hers,  woe  betide  those  con- 
tending with  her;  for,  though  not  seeming  to  be  going  so  fast, 
she  nearly  always  found  herself  well  in  front  at  the  close  of  each 
heat.  She  was  on  the  turf  eleven  years,  and  trotted  sixty-six 
races,  of  which   she  won   fifty-one,  and   received  in  purses  and 


AMERICAN    TROTTING   HORSE.  35 

stakes  861,125,  and  enjoys  the  distinction  of  being  the  only  horse 
that  ever  in  fair  contest  lowered  the  colors  of  the  mighty  Dexter. 
Lady  Thorne  was  foaled  in  1856,  and  trotted  her  maiden  race,  when 
three  years  old,  under  the  name  of  Ashland  Maid ;  but,  owing  to 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war  and  other  circumstances,  her  turf  career 
did  not  fairly  commence  until  1863,  when  she  was  brought  to  the 
east  and  her  name  changed  to  Lady  Thorne.  In  1865  she  beat 
Dexter  at  the  Union  Course,  L.  I.,  taking  first,  second,  and  fourth 
heats,  in  2  m.  24  s.,  2  m.  26^  s.,  and  2  m.  26^  s.  respectively,  and 
the  world  knew  that  the  big  one-eyed  mare  was  a  trotter.  She 
also  beat  that  year  Frank  Vernon,  Stonewall  Jackson,  George 
Wilkes,  and  Lady  Emma,  and  did  not  lose  a  single  race.  In  the 
next  two  years  she  trotted  numerous  races  against  Dexter,  George 
Wilkes,  Mountain  Boy,  Lucy,  Lady  Emma,  Bruno,  Old  Put,  with 
moderate  success;  but  in  1868  she  came  out  in  fine  form,  beating 
Lucy,  General  Butler  and  George  Wilkes,  and  two  others,  at  the 
Fashion  Course,  May  22,  in  2  m.  24^  s.,  2  m.  23  s.,  and  2  m.  25  s. 
She  trotted  eleven  other  races  that  year,  reducing  her  record  to 
2  m.  21  s.,  and  defeating  Mountain  Boy,  Lucy,  George  Wilkes, 
General  Butler,  Holla  Golddust,  Rhode  Island,  George  Palmer. 
She  lost  but  one  race.  Mountain  Boy  beating  her  at  Point  Breeze, 
Philadelphia,  September  16.  In  1869  she  showed  still  greater 
speed.  She  beat  Goldsmith  Maid  in  July,  in  three  heats,  time, 
2  m.  21f  s.,  2  m.  20^  s.,  and  2  m.  21i  s.;  in  August  she  beat  her 
and  American  Girl  in  2  m.  20f  s.,  2  m.  20|  s.,  and  2  m.  20i  s.; 
on  September  9,  1869,  at  Point  Breeze  Park,  near  Philadelphia, 
she  defeated  them  again  in  2  m.  21f  s.,  2  m.  19i  s.,  and  2  m.  23^  s., 
when  a  greater  number  of  people  were  assembled  than  on  any  pre- 
vious occasion,  ten  thousand  dollars  being  taken  at  the  gates  for 
admission,  while  a  couple  of  thousand  jumped  the  fence  to  witness 
this  great  race.  An  old  friend  says  the  people  began  to  come  in 
the  morning  and  came  all  day.  Every  vestige  of  space  in  the 
club  house  and  grand  stand,  and  upon  the  roofs  of  the  same, 
was  filled.  A  fourth  time,  October  1,  she  was  victorious  over 
the  same  two  mares,  George  Palmer  being  also  in  the  race,  in  2  m. 
20i  s.,  2  m.  201^  s.,  and  2  m.  20  s.;  and  on  October  8,  at  Narra- 
gansett  Park,  she  won  her  best  race  and  made  her  fastest  time,  de- 
feating George  Palmer,  Goldsmith  Maid,  Lucy,  and  American  Girl, 
winning  the  first,  second  and  fourth  heats  in  2  m.  19f  s.,  2  m.  181  s., 
and* 2  m.  21  s.,  George  Palmer  taking  the  third  heat  in  2  m.  19i  s. 
George  Palmer  was  a  little,  lightly  built  bay  gelding,  by  a  horse 
called  Lame  Bogus,  of  whom  very  little  is  known.  He  belonged  to 
Mr.  Erastus  Corning  of  Albany,  the  son  of  the  famous  railroad 
king,  and,  had  he  appeared  in  any  other  period  than  that  of  the 
three  mighty  mares,  might  have  achieved  much  greater  fame.     It 


36  A   SHORT    HISTORY   OF    THE 

is  remarkable  that  Lady  Thome  beat  Goldsmith  Maid  every  time  she 
met  her,  and  never  lost  a  single  heat  to  her.  In  1870,  she  trotted 
but  two  races  at  the  Fashion  Course.  July  4,  she  met  and  defeated 
Goldsmith  Maid,  American  Girl,  George  Wilkes,  George  Palmer, 
and  Lucy,  in  three  straight  heats,  in  2  m.  23  J  s.,  2  m.  23  s.,  2  m. 
24 i  s.,  and  three  weeks  afterwards,  at  Prospect  Park,  she  beat 
Goldsmith  Maid,  in  2  m.  19|  s.,  2  m.  20i  s.,  and  2  m.  19i  s.  She 
was  to  meet  her  again  at  Buffalo,  but  slipped  while  being  put  on 
the  cars  at  Rochester,  and  injured  her  near  hip  so  badly  that  she 
was  never  able  to  trot  again,  and  was  sent  to  the  Fashion  Stud 
Farm  at  Trenton,  N.  J. 

In  his  reminiscences  of  trotters,  published  in  the  Spirit  of  the 
Times,  Dan  Mace,  who  knew  her  so  well,  says  of  her :  "  You  can 
put  it  down  as  an  absolute  certainty  that  Lady  Thorne  could  trot  a 
mile  in  2  m.  10  s.,  in  harness,  in  2  m.  15  s,,  to  wagon.  I  will  not 
say  how  much  faster  than  this  the  old  mare  could  trot.  I  never 
saw  her  trot  a  full  mile  at  her  best  but  once,  and  there  are  two 
other  men  living,  besides  myself,  who  can  tell  how  fast  that  was, 
but  I  shall  never  tell,  and  it  is  probable  that  they  will  not.  It 
was  so  fast  that  it  would  not  be  credited  by  the  public,  and  so  we 
agreed  that  we  would  never  mention  the  time.  But  I  will  say  this 
much :  it  was  a  faster  gait  for  the  whole  mile  than  I  ever  saw  kept 
up  by  any  other  horse  for  a  single  quarter." 

Be  that  as  it  may,  her  retirement  left  Goldsmith  Maid  the 
mistress  of  the  turf,  which  she  held  until  her  retirement  in  1877. 

Goldsmith  Maid  was  foaled  in  May,  1857,  and  was  by  Alexan- 
der's Abdallah,  a  son  of  Rysdyk's  Hambletonian,  out  of  a  mare  by 
old  Abdallah,  and  was  consequently  very  closely  inbred  to  the 
famous  rat-tailed  sire.  She  was  a  blood  bay,  small,  wiry  and  so 
ungovernable  that  in  the  first  eight  years  of  her  existence  she  did 
not  do  an  honest  day's  work.  She  jumped  fences,  reared  up  and 
fell  over  backwards  when  hitched  to  a  harrow,  and  kicked  herself 
loose,  and  ran  away  when  harnessed  to  a  wagon,  and,  in  short,  com- 
ported herself  so  disagreeably  that  her  breeder,  Mr.  Decker,  was 
glad  to  sell  her  to  his  nephew,  who  thought  something  could  be 
done  with  her.  But  he,  too,  repented  of  his  bargain  and,  after 
one  day's  ownership,  sold  her  to  a  gentleman  he  met  as  he  was  en- 
deavoring to  take  her  home.  Three  months  sufficed  her  owner  num- 
ber three,  and  he  traded  her  ofi"  to  Alden  Goldsmith  ;  and  patient, 
kindly  usage  succeeded  where  force  had  failed.  In  September, 
1865,  at  Goshen,  N.  Y.,  she  trotted  her  first  race  against  Uncle 
Sam,  Mountain  Boy  and  Wild  Irishman,  and  won  in  three  straight 
heats,  in  2  m.  39  s.,  2  m.  36  s.,  and  2  m.  39  s.  She  then  beat 
Sorrel  Bill,  at  Poughkeepsie,  making  a  record  of  2  m.  31  s.,  and 
was  beaten  by  General  Butler,  at  Copake,  N.  Y.,  in  fast  time.     In 


AMERICAN   TROTTINQ   HORSE.  37 

1866  she  trotted  eight  races,  winning  all  but  one,  and  in  1867,  five 
races,  losing  two,  once  to  Dexter  and  once  to  Crazy  Jane.  In  1868 
she  won  eight  times,  and  reduced  her  record  to  2  m.  22|  s.  In  the 
fall  of  this  year  she  was  sold  to  Messrs.  Doble  &  Jackman,  and 
henceforth  Budd  Doble  handled  the  reins  over  her.  She  began 
the  season  of  1869  badly  by  losing  five  times  to  American  Girl, 
a  very  powerful  big  bay  mare  by  a  son  of  Cassius  M.  Clay,  out 
of  a  Virginia  mare  of  unknown  pedigree,  who  was  trotting  very 
strongly  that  year,  and  gave  promise  of  taking  up  the  sceptre 
which  Dexter  had  voluntarily  laid  down.  She  beat  Lucy  at 
Boston,  and  trotted  in  2  m.  20 1  s.  She  beat  George  Palmer 
on  the  Fashion  Course.  She  met  American  Girl  at  Suffolk 
Park,  Philadelphia,  and  beat  her  in  three  straight  heats,  all 
better  than  2  m.  20  s.  That  was  the  first  time  any  horse  beat 
2  m.  20  s.  in  all  the  heats  of  a  race.  Goldsmith  Maid  won  eight 
races  that  year,  and  beat  all  those  that  had  beaten  her,  save  Lady 
Thorne,  who  was  then  in  her  prime,  and  who  won  five  races  from 
her.  In  1870  Goldsmith  Maid  won  eleven  times.  She  did  not 
beat  2  m.  20  s.  that  year,  but  she  trotted  in  2  m.  24J  s.  to  wagon. 
In  1871  Goldsmith  Maid  continued  her  brilliant  career.  At  Fleet- 
wood Park,  Baltimore,  Prospect  Park,  Brooklyn,  Boston  and 
BuiFalo  she  beat  all  her  competitors,  including  American  Girl  and 
Lucy.  At  the  latter  place  she  again  won  all  the  heats  in  better 
than  2  m.  20  s.  Here  she  failed  in  an  eff"ort  to  beat  Dexter's 
time — 2  m.  17i  s.,  for  an  extra  purse.  But  she  soon  after  trotted 
in  2  m.  17  s.  at  Milwaukee,  and  Dexter's  brilliant  record  was  at 
last  eclipsed.  Goldsmith  Maid  continued  on  the  great  Western 
route,  and  reached  as  far  as  Omaha  and  Council  Blufis,  away  up 
the  Missouri  Elver.  In  1872,  after  one  trot  at  Philadelphia,  the 
little  mare  went  to  Boston,  and  trotted  on  the  Mystic  Course  in 
2  m.  16f  s.  Afterwards,  at  Prospect  Park,  she  put  in  all  the  heats 
in  better  than  2  m.  20  s. ;  and  at  Cleveland  she  did  it  for  the  fourth 
time.  It  was  now  determined  to  take  the  Maid  to  the  Pacifio 
coast  on  a  hippodroming  tour,  and  Lucy,  a  fine,  big,  slashing 
mare  by  George  M.  Patchen,  with  a  record  of  2  m.  18^8.,  was 
selected  as  her  understudy.  Lucy  was  deserving  of  a  far  better 
fate,  and  pressed  the  Maid  closely  in  her  races,  being  only  allowed 
to  win  when  the  Maid  was  "  ofl"."  The  two  mares  were  owned  by  Mr. 
H.  N.  Smith,  of  the  Fashion  Stock  Farm,  at  Trenton,  N.  J., 
whither  Lucy  retired  in  the  following  year  and  the  Maid  four 
years  later,  and  where  both  they  and  their  great  competitor.  Lady 
Thorne,  now  rest  side  by  side  under  the  sod  of  the  Fashion 
track.  Some  horsemen  who  remember  the  old  brown  mare,  with 
her  flashing  eye  and  peculiar  manner  of  projecting  her  ears  for- 
ward, even  now  maintain  that  Lucy  was   not   the    least  of   the 


38  A   SHORT   HISTORY   OF   THE 

belles  of  the  Fashion  thirty  years  ago.  In  1 873  the  Maid  did 
not  trot  any  especially  fast  heats;  in  1874  she  trotted  seventeen 
times,  with  increase  of  speed,  and  did  not  lose  a  single  race.  At 
Saginaw,  Mich.,  she  went  in  2  m.  16  s.  At  Springfield,  Mass., 
she  again  made  2  m.  16  s.,  and  all  the  heats  were  better  than  2  m. 
20  s.  Three  times  that  year  she  beat  2  m.  20  s.  in  all  the  heats. 
At  Rochester  she  trotted  a  second  heat  in  2  m.  14|s.;  and  at 
Mystic  Park,  Boston,  September  14,  for  a  special  purse,  in  which 
she  was  required  to  beat  her  Rochester  time,  she  trotted  in  2  m. 
14  s.  In  1875  she  trotted  only  six  races,  and  was  beaten  once  by 
Lula — who  had  trotted  a  mile  in  2  m.  15  s.  at  Buffalo  the  week 
previous — at  Rochester,  but  beat  her  at  Utica  the  following  week. 
In  1876  Goldsmith  Maid  trotted  seven  races,  losing  but  that  mem- 
orable race  at  Cleveland,  described  elsewhere.  Besides  this  she 
trotted  against  her  own  record  seven  times,  and  though  failing  to 
reduce  it,  she  trotted  at  Belmont  Park,  Philadelphia,  June  23,  in 
2  m.  14  s.  In  1877  she  trotted  several  races  in  California,  against 
Rarus  and  others,  and  at  Chico,  Cal.,  May  19,  over  a  rough  track, 
she  defeated  Rarus  in  2  m.  19^  s.,  2  m.  14^  s.  and  2  m.  17  s.  She 
was  entered  in  the  Grand  Circuit  in  trials  for  speed,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  season  was  retired  to  the  Fashion  Stock  Farm,  at 
Trenton,  N.  J.,  where  she  died  September  23,  1885,  at  the  ripe 
old  age  of  twenty-eight.  Take  her  all  in  all,  it  may  be  ques- 
tioned whether  her  like  has  ever  been  seen  on  the  American  turf. 
She  won  95  contested  races  and  332  heats  in  2  m.  30  s.,  or 
better.  During  her  career  Goldsmith  Maid  travelled  on  the  cars 
over  130,000  miles,  and  earned  for  her  owners  over  $325,000 
in  stakes  and  purses. 

The  year  1875  is  a  notable  one  in  the  annals  of  the  trotting  turf. 
The  combined  series  of  trotting  meetings  which  was  inaugurated 
in  1866  by  the  trotting  associations  of  Cleveland  and  Rochester, 
at  which  meetings  the  purses  given  amounted  to  $15,650,  had  in- 
creased in  number  and  importance,  until  it  extended  from  the 
shores  of  Lake  Erie  almost  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  now  em- 
braced the  associations  of  Cleveland,  Buffalo,  Rochester,  Utica, 
Poughkeepsie,  Hartford,  and  Springfield,  and  the  purses  offered  at 
these  meetings  aggregated  the  enormous  sum  of  $245,000.  Among 
the  horses  whose  fleet  hoofs  trod  these  tracks  that  season  were 
Goldsmith  Maid,  American  Girl,  Lula,  Smuggler,  Hopeful,  Rarus, 
Lucille  Golddust,  Judge  Fullerton,  Great  Eastern,  Lady  Maud, 
Nettie,  St.  Julien,  Huntress,  John  H.,  Cozette,  Sensation,  Bodine, 
May  Queen,  Scotland,  Grafton,  Kansas  Chief,  Belle  Brassfield, 
Mazo-Manie,  Bella,  Joker,  Little  Fred,  Clementine,  Music,  Amy, 
Mollie  Morris,  and  Thomas  Jefferson.  No  more  brilliant  collec- 
tion of  trotters  ever  gathered  together  in  any  one  season.     There 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  39 

were,  of  course,  other  trotting  meetings  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  but  the  Septilateral,  as  the  Grand  Circuit  was  called,  sur- 
passed all  the  other  meetings  in  glory. 

Thomas  Jefferson  was  a  handsome  black  stallion,  foaled  in  1863, 
by  Toronto  Chief,  out  of  the  renowned  ten-miler,  Gripsy  Queen. 
His  handsome  form,  high  quality  of  finish,  gameness  and  grit 
made  "the  black  whirlwind  of  the  East"  a  favorite  everywhere. 
He  won  hard-fought  races  from  such  prominent  horses  as  Smug- 
gler, George  Wilkes,  Mambrino  Gift,  Sensation,  Shepherd  T. 
Knapp,  Commonwealth,  William  H.  Allen,  all  good  ones,  and  ob- 
tained a  record  of  2  m.  23  s. 

At  the  Centennial  Exhibition  in  Philadelphia,  in  1876,  he 
received  the  highest  award  of  merit.  As  a  sire,  Thomas  Jefferson 
has  been  only  moderately  successful,  the  best  of  his  get  being 
probably  the  powerful  chestnut  gelding  John  S.  Clark,  who  won 
some  good  races  and  obtained  a  record  of  2  m.  19f  s.,  though  Joe 
Jefferson,  the  pacer  (2  m.  19i  s.),  and  Lizzie  M.  (2  m.  20y  s.)  are 
rated  higher  by  many  good  critics.  The  match,  at  Philadelphia,  in 
1883,  between  the  latter  and  Scotland,  a  half-bred  son  of  the 
thoroughbred  Bonnie  Scotland,  two-mile  heats,  for  a  purse  of 
$2000,  was  considered  a  fair  test  of  the  staying  powers  of  the 
thoroughbred  blood  in  the  trotter.  It  was  hotly  contested  all 
through,  Lizzie  M.  winning  the  first,  second  and  fourth  heats  in 
4  m.  56  s.,  5  m.  03  s.,  4  m.  58  J  s.,  and  Scotland  the  third  in  4  m. 
55  J  s. ;  and  since  that  time  there  has  not  been  so  much  talk  of  the 
value  of  the  thoroughbred  cross. 

The  Centennial  year  is  noted  for  the  wonderful  achievements  of 
Goldsmith  Maid  and  Smuggler.  The  former,  in  her  nineteenth 
year,  trotted  against  time  in  2  m.  lis.,  her  previous  record,  and 
won  six  of  the  seven  races  she  trotted  that  year,  losing  but  one 
race — that  at  Cleveland,  won  by  Smuggler.  The  latter  won  for 
himself  a  mighty  name,  as  the  only  horse  able  to  tear  the  laurels 
from  the  brow  of  the  peerless  Queen  of  the  Trotting  Turf. 

Smuggler  was  a  brown  stallion,  standing  15  hands  3  inches  high, 
with  a  blazed  face.  He  was  foaled  near  Columbus,  O.,  in  1866,  and 
was  got  by  Blanco,  a  son  of  Iron's  Cadmus,  the  sire  of  the  famous 
pacing  mare  Pocahontas,  and  his  dam  was  a  bay  pacing  mare  brought 
from  West  Virginia.  The  dam  of  Blanco  was  by  Blind  Tuckahoe, 
a  son  of  Herod's  Tuckahoe.  He  consequently  inherited  a  good  share 
of  pacing  blood  mixed  with  thoroughbred,  and  when  he  was  taken 
to  Kansas  by  his  owner,  in  1872,  he  was  a  confirmed  pacer.  He 
was  there  placed  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Charles  Marvin,  and  under 
his  tuition  developed  into  a  most  promising  trotter.  But  as  this 
change  was  only  achieved  by  forcing  him  to  carry  shoes  on  his  front 
feet  of  two  pounds  weight  each,  and  at  one  time  of  even  three  pounds 
in  his  races,  it  is  questioned  whether  the  policy  pursued  was  a  wise 


40  A    SHORT    HISTORY   OF   THE 

one.  If  he  had  been  permitted  to  go  at  his  natural  gait,  Star 
Pointer's  record  to-day  might  have  been  made  by  Smuggler  thirty 
years  ago.  In  July,  1873,  he  showed  a  trial  of  a  mile  over  the  Olathe 
track  in  2  m.  19f  s.,  a  performance  which  excited  great  sensation 
in  trotting  circles.  He  was  then  taken  to  New  York,  and  at  the 
Prospect  Park  Course  was  given  a  public  trial  of  three  heats,  in 
2  m.  19|  s.,  2  m.  21i  s.,  and  2  m.  21  s.,  trotting  the  last  half  of 
the  third  mile  in  1  m.  9  s. 

His  first  appearance  in  a  race  was  at  Bufi'alo,  August  5,  1874, 
in  a  purse  of  $10,000,  free  for  all  stallions,  where  he  was  pitted 
against  Thomas  Jefferson,  Mambrino  Gift,  and  several  others  of  the 
most  noted  trotting  stallions  of  the  continent.  He  won  the  first 
and  second  heats  in  2  m.  22J  s.  and  2  m.  20|  s.,  wonderful  time 
for  a  "  green"  horse,  but  becoming  tired  and  discouraged  by  the 
excessive  scoring,  was  last  in  the  third  heat  and  distanced  in  the 
fourth.  Mambrino  Gift  won  the  third  heat,  but  Jefferson  lasting  the 
longest  won  the  last  three  heats  and  the  race.  On  September  14, 
of  the  same  year,  he  won  the  champion  stallion  race  at  Mystic 
Park,  Boston,  in  three  straight  heats,  in  2  m.  23  s.,  2  m.  23  s.,  and 
2  m.  20  s.,  which  was  then  the  best  stallion  record,  defeating  Phil 
Sheridan,  Henry  W.  Genet,  Commonwealth,  Mambrino  Gift,  and 
Vermont  Abdallah.  In  1876  at  Belmont  Park,  Philadelphia,  July 
15,  he  beat  Judge  Fullerton,  in  2  m.  17^  s.,  2  m.  18  s.,  2  m.  17  s., 
and  2  m.  20  s. ;  the  second  heat  being  a  dead  heat  between  them. 

This  splendid  achievement  elevated  him  to  the  highest  pinnacle 
of  fame  as  the  champion  stallion  of  the  world,  and  with  the  laurels 
of  this  victory  fresh  on  his  brow,  he  entered  the  Circuit  in  the 
free-for-all  purse  at  Cleveland,  0.,  July  27.  As  this  race  is  one  of 
the  most  famous  in  trotting  annals,  we  copy  the  following  graphic 
description  from  the  graceful  pen  of  Hamilton  Busbey,  which  ap- 
peared in  the  Turf,  Field  and  Farm  of  August  4,  1876 : 

"  When  the  bell  rang  for  the  open-to-all  horses  to  appear,  a  buzz 
of  expectation  was  heard  on  all  sides.  It  was  known  that  Lula 
would  not  respond  to  the  call,  she  having  made  an  exhibition  the 
previous  day,  besides  she  was  not  in  the  bloom  of  condition ;  but 
Lucille  Golddust  was  there  to  battle  for  the  Babylon  stable,  and 
she  was  a  mare  of  tried  speed  and  bottom.  The  knowledge  that 
Lula  would  not  start  steadied  the  quaking  nerves  of  Doble,  and 
he  ceased  to  plead  for  a  special  purse  and  permission  to  withdraw. 
He  thought  that  Goldsmith  Maid  would  have  a  comparatively  easy 
time  in  capturing  first  money,  and  his  confidence  made  the  old 
mare  the  favorite  over  the  field.  Smuggler  was  deemed  an  uncer- 
tain horse,  and  there  was  no  eagerness  to  invest  in  pools  on  him. 
But  the  stallion  was  cheered  almost  as  warmly  as  the  Maid  when 
he  jogged  slowly  past  the  stand.   Lucille  Golddust,  J  udge  Fullerton 


AMERICAN   TROTTING   HORSE.  41 

and  Eodine  were  also  received  witli  applause.  The  great  drivers 
of  the  country  were  behind  the  great  horses  of  the  country.  Budd 
Doble  pulled  the  lines  over  Goldsmith  Maid ;  Charley  Grreen  stead- 
ied Lucille  Golddust ;  Pete  Johnson  controlled  Bodine ;  Charley 
Marvin  watched  over  the  fortunes  of  Smuggler;  and  Dan  Mace 
was  up  behind  Judge  Fullerton,  having  come  from  New  York  for 
the  express  purpose  of  driving  him  in  the  race.  Twice  the  horses 
came  for  the  word,  and  twice  they  failed  to  get  it.  They  were 
then  ordered  to  score  with  Lucille  Golddust,  and  succeeded  in  get- 
ting off.  The  Maid  had  the  best  of  the  start,  and,  quickly  taking 
the  pole  from  Judge  Fullerton,  gayly  carried  herself  in  the  lead. 
It  was  where  she  was  accustomed  to  be,  and  so  she  trotted  in  the 
best  of  spirits.  Fullerton  did  not  act  well,  and  he  brought  up  the 
rear  rank  the  entire  length  of  the  course.  Along  the  back-stretch 
Smuggler  began  to  close  a  gap,  terrific  as  the  pace  was.  After 
passing  the  half  mile  he  drew  dangerously  near  the  Maid,  but  it 
was  noticed  that  he  faltered  a  little.  The  cause  was  not  then 
understood,  but  it  was  made  plain  when  the  patrol  judge  galloped 
up  to  the  stand  with  a  shoe  in  his  hand  which  had  been  cast  from 
the  near  fore  foot.  Around  the  turn  the  stallion  pressed  after  the 
mare,  and  down  the  stretch  he  drove  her  at  the  top  of  her  speed, 
the  thousands  giving  vent  to  their  enthusiasm  by  cheering  and 
clapping  hands.  Smuggler  had  his  nose  at  the  Maid's  tail  when 
she  went  under  the  wire,  in  2  m.  15  J  s.  Bodine  was  a  good  third, 
his  time  being  about  2  m.  17  s.,  and  Lucille  Golddust  was  fourth, 
Fullerton  just  inside  of  the  flag.  Smuggler's  performance  was  an 
extraordinary  one.  He  trotted  for  something  like  three-eighths  of 
a  mile  with  his  equilibrium  destroyed  by  the  sudden  withdrawal 
from  an  extreme  lever  point  of  a  shoe  weighing  twenty-five  ounces. 
Only  once  before  had  he  cast  a  shoe  in  rapid  work  without  break- 
ing, and  that  was  in  his  exercise  at  Belmont  Park.  Keen  judges 
are  forced  to  admit  that  the  stallion  would  have  won  the  first  heat 
in  2  m.  15  s.  had  no  accident  befallen  him  on  Thursday.  Prior  to 
this  season  Smuggler  carried  a  thirty-two  ounce  shoe  on  each  of 
his  fore  feet,  but  now  he  seems  to  be  steady  under  the  reduced 
weight.  The  scoring  in  the  second  heat  was  a  little  more  trouble- 
some than  that  in  the  first  heat.  Smuggler  left  his  feet  several 
times,  and  it  looked  as  if  he  was  going  to  disappoint  his  owner  and 
trainer.  On  the  fourth  attempt  the  horses  got  away,  the  Maid  in 
the  lead.  The  stallion  made  one  of  his  characteristic  bad  breaks 
around  the  turn,  and  all  hope  of  his  winning  the  heat  was  lost. 
Bodine  and  Fullerton  also  were  unsteady.  Lucille  Golddust  did 
good  work,  and  she  was  second  to  the  Maid  when  the  latter  went 
over  the  score  in  2  m.  17 ^  s.  Smuggler  finished  fifth,  Marvin  only 
trying  to.  save  his  distance.     Goldsmith  Maid  was  distresed,    but 


42  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OF   THE 

her  friends  were  confident  that  her  speed  and  steadiness  would 
carry  her  safely  through.     It  was  almost  dollars  to  cents  that  she 
would  win.     The  word  was  given  to  a  good  send  oif  in  the  third 
heat.     The  Maid  had  the  pole,  which  advantage  she  did  not  sur- 
render, although  she  went  into  the  air  around  the  turn.     She  was 
quickly  caught,  and  Doble  drove  her  carefully  along  the  back- 
stretch,  followed  by  Fullerton,  who  seemed  to  be  content  with  the 
position  of  body-guard  to  her  queenship.     After  passing  the  half- 
mile,  Marvin  urged  Smuggler  into  a  quicker  pace,  and  the  stallion 
was  observed  to  pass  Lucille  Golddust,  then  Fullerton,  and  to  swing 
into  the  home-stretch  hard  on  the  Maid's  wheel.     Doble  used  all 
his  art  to  keep  his  mare  going,  but  Marvin  sat  behind  a  locomotive 
and  could  not  be  shaken  off.     The  stallion  got  on  even  terms  with 
the  Maid,  and  then  drew  ahead  of  her  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
tumultuous  applause,  beating  her  under  the  wire  three-quarters  of 
a  length.     The  scene  which  followed  is  indescribable.     An  elec- 
trical wave  swept  over  the  vast  assembly,  and  men  swung  their 
hats  and  shouted  themselves  hoarse,  while  the  ladies  snapped  fans 
and  parasols  and  bursted  their  kid  gloves  in  the  endeavor  t®  get  rid 
of  the  storm  of  emotion.     The  police  vainly  tried  to  keep  the 
quarter-stretch  clear.     The  multitude  poured  through  the  gates, 
and   Smuggler  returned  to  the  stand  through  a  narrow  lane  of 
humanity  which  closed  as  he  advanced.     Doble  was  ashy  pale,  and 
the  great  mare  which  had  scored  so  many  victories  stood  with 
trembling  flanks  and  head  down.     Her  attitude  seemed  to  say,  '  I 
have  done  my  best,  but  am  forced  to  resign  the  crown.'     The 
judges  hung  out  the  time,  2  m.  16i  s.,  and  got  no  further  in  the 
announcement  than  that  Smuggler  had  won  the  heat.     The  shouts 
of  the  thousands  of  frenzied  people  drowned  all  else.     During  the 
intermission  the  stallion  was  the  object  of  the  closest  scrutiny.     So 
great  was  the  press  that  it  was  difficult  to  obtain  breathing  room. 
He  appeared  fresh,  and  ate  eagerly  of  the  small  bunch  of  hay 
which  was  presented  to  him  by  his  trainer  after  he  had  cooled  out. 
It  was  manifest  that  the  fast  work  had  not  destroyed  his  appetite. 
The  betting  now  changed.     It  was  seen  that  the  Maid  was  tired, 
and  her  eager  backers  of  an  hour  ago  were  anxious  to  hedge.     In 
the  second  score  of  the  fourth  heat  the  judges  observed  that  Smug- 
gler was  in  his  stride,  although  behind,  and  so  gave  the  word.     In 
his  anxiety  to  secure  the  pole  Doble  forced  Groldsmitli  Maid  into  a 
run,  and  as  Lucille  Golddust  quickly  followed  her,  the  stallion 
found  his  progress  barred  unless  he  pulled  out  and  around  them. 
Marvin  decided  to  trail,  and  he  kept  in  close  pursuit  of  the  two 
mares  even  after  he  had  rounded  into  the  home-stretch.     Green 
would  not  give  way  with  Lucille,  and  Doble  pulled  the  Maid  back 
just  far  enough  to  keep  Marvin  from  slipping  through  with  the 


AMERICAN   TROTTING    HORSE.  43 

stallion.     The  pocket  was  complete,  and  thought  to  be  secure.     A 
smile  of  triumph  lighted  Doble's  face,  and  the  crowd  settled  sullenly 
down  to  the  belief  that  the  race  was  over.     Marvin  was  denounced 
as  a  fool  for  placing  himself  at  a  disadvantage,  and  imagination 
pictured  just  beyond  the  wire  the  crown  of  Goldsmith  Maid  with 
new  laurel  woven  into  it.     But  look !     By  the  ghosts  of  the  de- 
parted !     Marvin  has  determined   upon  a  bold   experiment.     He 
falls  back,  and  to  the  right,  with  the  irtention  of  getting  out 
around  the  pocket.     Too  late,  too  late !    is  the  hoarse  whisper. 
Why,  man,  you  have  but  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  in  which  to 
straighten  your  horse  and  head  the  Maid,  whose  burst  of  speed  has 
been  held  in  reserve  for  just  such  an  occasion  as  this  !     Her  gait 
is  2  m.  14  s.,  and  you — well,  you  are  simply  mad  !    The  uncounted 
thousands  held  their  breath.     The  stallion  does  not  leave  his  feet, 
although  pulled  to  a  forty-five  angle  to  the  right,  and  the  moment 
that  his  head  is  clear  and  the  path  open,  he  dashes  forward  with 
the  speed  of  the  staghound.     It  is  more  like  flying  than  trotting. 
Doble  hurries  his  mare  into  a  break,  but  he  cannot  stop  the  dark 
shadow  which  flits  by  him.    Smuggler  goes  over  the  score  a  winner 
of  the  heat  by  a  neck,  and  the  roar  which  comes  from  the  grand 
stand   and  the  quarter-stretch  is  simply  deafening.     As  Marvin 
comes  back  with  Smuggler  to  weigh,  the  ovation  is  even  greater 
than  that  which  he  received  in  the  preceding  heat.     Nothing  like 
the  burst  of  speed  he  had  shown  had  ever  before  been  seen  on  the 
track,  and  it  may  be  that  it  will  never  be  seen  again,     Marvin  had 
two  reasons  for  going  into   the  pocket.     In  the  first  place,  he 
thought  that  Green  would  pull  out  when  the  pinch  came  and  let 
him  through,  and  in  the  second  place,  he  erroneously  supposed  that 
Doble  would  push  the  Maid  down  the  stretch  and  leave  him  room 
to  get  out  that  way.     It  was  bad  judgment  to  get  into  the  pocket, 
since,  had  the  Maid  won  the  heat,  the  race  would  have  been  over; 
but  it  must  be  admitted  that  Marvin  acted  not  without  a  show  of 
reason.     In  riding  at  the  gait  he  was  riding,  a  man  does  not  have 
any  extra  time  to  mature  his  plans.     The  heat  was  literally  won 
from  the  fire.     It  was  only  the  weight  of  a  hair  which  turned  the 
scales  from  defeat  to  victory.     Doble  was  more  deeply  moved  by 
the  unexpected  result  of  the  heat  than  by  anything  else  which  hap- 
pened in  the  race.     His  smile  of  triumph  was  turned  in  one  brief 
instant  to  an  expression  of  despair.     The  time  of  the  heat  was 
2  m.  19|  s.     Smuggler  again  cooled  out  well,  nibbling  eagerly  at 
his  bunch  of  hay,  while  the  crowd  massed  around  him.    The  Maid 
was  more  tired  than  ever,  while  Lucille  Golddust  showed  no  signs 
of  distress.     When  the  horses  responded  to  the  bell  for  the  fifth 
heat  it  was  evident  that  a  combination  had  been  formed  against 
Smuggler.    All  worked  against  him.    Lucille  Golddust  and  Bodine ' 


44  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OF   THE 

worried  him  by  repeated  scorings,  and  when  they  excited  him  into 
a  break  and  he  grabbed  the  unfortunate  shoe  from  the  near  fore 
foot,  the  hope  began  to  rise  that  the  star  of  the  stallion  had  set. 
The  shoe  was  put  on,  the  delay  giving  the  Maid  time  to  get  her 
second  wind,  when  the  scoring  again  commenced.  Smuggler  was 
repeatedly  forced  to  a  break,  and  for  the  third  time  in  the  race  he 
grabbed  off  the  near  fore  shoe.  Misfortunes  seemed  to  be  gather- 
ing thickly  around  him,  and  the  partisans  of  the  Maid  wore  the 
old  jaunty  air  of  confidence.  Before  replacing  the  shoe.  Colonel 
Kussell  had  it  shortened  at  the  heel.  It  was  a  new  shoe,  and  one 
adopted  by  Marvin  against  the  judgment  of  Russell.  The  shell  of 
the  foot  was  pretty  badly  splintered  by  the  triple  accident,  but  the 
stallion  was  not  rendered  lame.  As  much  as  an  hour  was  wasted 
by  the  scoring  and  the  shoeing  of  Smuggler,  which  brought  all  the 
.horses  to  the  post  looking  fresh.  Smuggler  had  the  worst  of  it, 
as  he  was  the  only  one  which  had  not  enjoyed  an  unbroken  rest. 
Finally  the  word  was  given  for  the  fifth  heat.  Fullerton  went  to 
the  front  like  a  flash  of  light,  trotting  without  skip  to  the  quarter 
pole  in  33  s.  Smuggler  overhauled  him  near  the  half-mile,  and 
from  there  home  was  never  headed.  The  Maid  worked  up  to 
second  position  down  the  home-stretch,  the  stallion  winning  the 
heat  in  2  m.  17  i  s.,  and  the  hardest-fought  race  ever  seen  in  the 
world.  The  evening  shadows  had  now  thickened,  and  as  the  great 
crowd  had  shouted  itself  weak  and  hoarse,  it  passed  slowly  through 
the  gates  and  drove  in  a  subdued  manner  home.^' 

In  the  following  week,  at  Buffalo,  he  was  so  badly  used  up  from 
the  effects  of  his  bruising  race  at  Cleveland,  that  he  was  in  no  con- 
dition to  trot,  and  was  defeated  by  the  Maid  in  the  fastest  three 
consecutive  heats  ever  trotted;  time,  2  m.  16  s.,  2  m.  15|  s.,  and 
2  m.  1 5  s.  At  Rochester  the  Maid  failed  to  put  in  an  appearance, 
and  Smuggler  won  in  three  straight  heats,  2  m.  15f  s.,  2  m.  18  s., 
and  2  m.  19^  s.  On  August  24,  at  Poughkeepsie,  he  was  distanced 
in  the  first  heat;  and  on  September  1,  at  Hartford,  he  trotted  against 
Goldsmith  Maid,  Judge  Fullerton,  and  Bodine,  and  won  the  first  two 
heats  in  2  m.  15^  s.  and  2  m.  17  s.  In  the  second  heat  he  was  very 
far  behind  at  the  start,  and  the  judges  were  much  blamed  in  con- 
sequence. Notwithstanding  this,  he  closed  up  the  gap,  and  made 
a  dead  heat  with  the  Maid  in  2  m.  16f  s.  Goldsmith  Maid  then 
took  the  last  three  and  the  race  in  2  m.  171  s.,  2  m.  18  s.,  and 
2  m.  19  s..  Smuggler  pushing  her  closely  in  them  all.  At  Spring- 
field he  trotted  in  the  same  company,  but  did  not  win  a  single 
heat.  Later  in  the  season  he  trotted  two  races  against  the  mam- 
moth trotter  Great  Eastern,  but  acting  badly,  he  lost  them  both. 
He  was  then  sent  to  the  stud,  where  he  bids  fair  to  become  a  great 
success. 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  45 

Rarus  tlien  took  up  the  crown  which  Groldsmith  Maid  had  laid 
down,  and  right  regally  he  wore  it.  He  is  a  long-striding,  ungainly- 
looking  bay  gelding,  sixteen  hands  high,  with  a  blaze  face  and 
white  ankles.  The  old  adage,  "blood  will  tell,"  does  not  hold 
good  in  his  case,  for  the  pedigree  of  his  sire  is  entirely  unknown, 
although  his  owner,  Mr.  R.  B.  Conklin,  and  Mr.  George  Wilkes, 
the  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Times,  have  used 
every  endeavor  to  trace  it.  All  that  is  known  is  that  Conklin's 
Abdallah,  for  so  the  sire  of  Rarus  is  called,  before  his  purchase 
by  Mr.  Conklin,  performed  the  ignoble  duty  of  drawing  a  fish-cart 
for  a  fish-dealer  in  Fulton  Market,  New  York.  Conklin's  Abdallah 
is  the  sire  of  some  twenty  other  horses  besides  Rarus,  but  the  best 
of  them  are  only  fair  roadsters.  The  dam  of  Rarus  was  by  Tele- 
graph, her  dam  being  a  Black  Hawk  mare,  and  it  is  probable  that 
she  is  the  source  of  his  wonderful  speed. 

Rarus  first  appeared  on  the  turf  at  the  Sufi'olk  County  Fair,  at 
Riverhead,  in  the  fall  of  1871,  where  he  won  the  four-year  old 
stakes  in  three  straight  heats,  the  best  of  which  was  in  2  m.  42i^  s. 
In  1874  he  trotted  six  races,  winning  four  of  them,  and  obtaining  a 
record  of  2  m.  28^  s.  The  next  year  he  was  kept  busily  at  work. 
He  commenced  the  season  at  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  June  9,  where 
Mollie  Morris  beat  him.  Gen.  Grant  and  Molsey  being  also  in  the  race. 
On  the  17th  Lady  Mac  beat  him  at  South  Bend,  Indiana.  On  July 
7,  at  Detroit,  Grafton  defeated  him  in  straight  heats.  Two  weeks 
later,  at  Sandusky,  the  entrees  for  the  Grand  Circuit  having  closed, 
he  was  allowed  to  go  to  the  front,  and  scored  his  first  win,  beating 
a  field  of  three  in  slow  time.  He  then  entered  the  Grand  Circuit  in 
the  2  m.  27  s.  class  at  Cleveland,  July  30,  winning  a  red-hot  race 
from  the  little  Mollie  Morris  (who  won  the  first  two  heats),  Carrie 
(who  took  the  third),  and  four  others,  in  2  m.  23^  s.,  2  m.  25 1  s., 
2  m.  24^  s.,  2  m.  24  J  s.,  2  m.  23^  s.,  2  m.  26i  s.;  but  at  Buffalo, 
the  following  week,  Mollie  Morris  reversed  the  verdict,  beating  him 
in  three  straight  heats.  At  Rochester,  Utica,  and  Hartford  he  won 
easily,  reducing  his  record  to  2  m.  20 f  s.  After  this  he  trotted  six 
races,  but  seemed  to  be  somewhat  off,  winning  but  two  of  them, 
being  beaten  by  Lady  Maud  twice,  and  by  Kansas  Chief  and  Sensa- 
tion each  once.  In  1876  he  had  his  own  way  in  the  2  m.  20  s. 
class  of  the  Septilateral  Circuit,  excepting  at  Cleveland,  where  May 
Queen  beat  him,  winning  the  six  remaining  races  in  the  easiest 
manner,  without  reducing  his  record,  though  it  was  evident  he 
could  trot  low  down  in  the  "teens"  whenever  he  chose  to  do  so,  and 
at  Fleetwood  Park,  N.  Y.,  October  26,  he  won  a  fast  race,  trotting 
the  fifth  heat  in  2  m.  20  s.,  and  closed  the  season  with  this  record 
against  him.  Late  in  the  fall  he  was  taken  to  California,  and  his 
first  races  in  1877  were  against  the  peerless  Goldsmith  Maid,  who 


46  A    SHORT    HISTORY   OF   THE 

was  also  wintering  there,  and  although  she  beat  him  five  times  out  of 
six,  he  lapped  her  out  in  2  m.  14 1  s.  at  Chico,  and  beat  her  at  San 
Francisco,  May  26,  when  she  was  out  of  condition,  lowering  his  record 
to  2  m.  19i  s.  He  also  won  races  from  Sam  JPurdy  and  Bodine. 
After  the  race  with  Goldsmith  Maid  he  came  East,  and  won  every 
race  he  started  in.  At  Cleveland,  Buffalo,  Rochester,  Utica,  Hart- 
ford, Long  Branch,  New  York,  Cleveland  again,  Columbus,  and 
Cincinnati,  it  was  the  same  story.  He  always  won,  and  from  such 
horses  as  Hopeful,  Great  Eastern,  Lucille  Golddust,  Cozette,  and 
Albemarle.  His  record  was  now  2  m.  16  s.,  and  it  was  conceded 
that  there  was  not  a  horse  on  the  turf  that  could  make  him  extend 
himself;  and  so,  in  1878,  he  was  confined  to  special  speed  purses 
generally,  to  beat  Goldsmith  Maid's  famous  record  of  2  m.  14  s. 
At  East  Saginaw,  Mich.,  he  trotted  a  mile  in  2  m.  14i  s.,  without 
a  break  or  skip.  At  Cincinnati,  July  4,  he  made  the  fastest  per- 
formance over  a  half-mile  track,  2  m.  17  s.  At  Cleveland  he  trotted 
in  2  m.  14J  s.,  2  m.  15  s.,  and  2  m.  14  s.,  and  at  Buffalo,  August 
3,  1878,  he  eclipsed  all  previous  records  and  trotted  a  mile  in  2  m. 
loj  s.  This  great  event  is  admirably  described  by  an  eye  witness, 
Mr.  Hamilton  Busbey  of  the  Turf,  Field  and  Farm. 

"  The  last  event  on  the  card  was  the  fight  of  Rarus  against  old 
Father  Time.  The  track  was  fast,  although  a  trifle  hard.  Bets 
were  freely  made  that  2  m.  14  s.  would  be  beaten.  The  first  trial 
was  not  encouraging.  Rarus  went  to  the  quarter  in  3bi  s.,  to  the 
half  in  1  m.  9|  s.,  to  the  third  quarter  in  1  m.  43  s.,  and  came 
home  in  2  m.  17  s.  In  the  second  trial  he  went  to  the  quarter  in 
33 i  s.,  and  made  a  very  bad  break.  Splan  pulled  up  and  jogged 
around  in  2  m.  50  s.  As  he  approached  the  wire  he  nodded  for 
the  word,  and  Mr.  Hamlin  shouted  '  Go.'  The  horse  left  his  feet 
on  the  turn,  and  Splan  again  pulled  up.  It  began  to  look  badly  for 
those  who  had  backed  the  horse  against  time.  Rarus  was  halted 
and  sponged,  and  then  the  discovery  was  made  that  he  was  hitched 
too  short.  The  buckles  were  changed  and  he  was  ready  for  a  new 
trial.  During  the  pause  a  crowd  gathered  in  front  of  the  judges' 
stand  and  clamored  for  a  decision.  They  insisted  that  those  who 
had  backed  time  in  the  second  heat  had  won.  The  judges  declined 
to  express  any  opinion  in  the  matter,  but  quietly  wrote  2  m.  50  s. 
under  2  m.  17  s.  on  the  blackboard,  and  turned  it  outward.  Splnn 
then  came  to  the  wire  the  fourth  time  for  the  word.  Rarus  went 
off  level,  and  when  he  passed  the  quarter  in  33 ^  s.,  and  moved 
steadily  forward,  the  hope  took  root  that  he  would  eclipse  all  former 
efforts.  He  wns  at  the  half-mile  pole  in  1  m.  5|  s.,  a  winning  pace, 
but  the  question  was,  could  he  keep  up  the  stride.  The  criticnl 
few  shook  their  heads  as  if  to  say  the  half  is  too  fast  for  the  horse 
to  finish  well.     Smoothly,  evenly,  without  the  least  jar  or  friction, 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  4t 

the  tall  and  gallant  bay  strode  to  the  three-quarter  pole,  which  he 
reached  in  1  ni.  38i  s.  *  By  Jove  1  he  will  beat  the  Maid's  time/ 
was  the  exclamation  which  came  from  all  sides.  There  was  a 
strange  fascination  in  watching  the  horse  and  listening  to  the  tick 
of  the  watch.  Time  is  a  relentless  old  fellow,  and  tolerates  no  mis- 
takes. Every  one  knew  that  Earns  could  not  afford  to  trip  or 
slacken  his  pace.  In  order  to  beat  the  long  registering  hand  of  the 
watch  to  the  fourteenth  second  mark  after  two  circuits  of  the  dial, 
it  was  necessary  for  him  to  preserve  a  stroke  and  to  show  a  courage 
which  no  horse  before  him  had  ever  shown.  Grandly,  stoutly,  he 
came  forward,  Splaa  sitting  well  poised  in  the  sulky,  and  watching 
the  movement  of  his  ears  with  his  keen  black  eyes.  After  passing 
the  distance  stand,  the  whip  was  gently  laid  on  the  back  of  the 
horse,  and  as  he  neared  the  wire  six  thousand  people  rose  to  their 
feet  and  held  their  breath.  Under  the  wire  Rarus  shot,  and  the 
hands  of  the  watches  stopped  short — 2  m.  13  s. ;  no,  2  m.  13?  s., 
say  the  judges,  and  cheer  after  cheer  rolls  over  the  track.  The 
horse  and  driver  received  a  perfect  ovation  when  they  returned  to 
weigh,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  Splan  could  make  his  way 
through  the  crowd  and  up  into  the  judges'  stand.  When  he  reached 
the  steps,  he  cleared  them  at  three  bounds,  and,  after  hand-shaking, 
was  led  to  the  rail  and  presented  with  a  handsome  basket  of  flowers 
by  President  Bush.  No  words  were  spoken.  It  would  have  been 
useless  to  have  attempted  speech-making  in  the  presence  of  the 
crowd  which  filled  the  quarter-stretch,  and  which  made  the  ground 
shake  with  its  shouts.  The  scene  is  indescribable.  While  Splan 
was  blushing  and  bowing  his  acknowledgments  to  the  applauding 
thousands,  Karus  was  being  unharnessed,  and  he  looked  on  with 
dazed  eye,  quivering  nostril  and  trembling  flank.  He  had  made  a 
new  mark  in  the  annals  of  the  turf,  had  wiped  out  the  record  of 
Goldsmith  Maid,  which  had  headed  the  list  for  so  many  years,  and 
modesty  well  became  him  in  the  hour  of  his  brilliant  success.  It 
was  a  proud  day  for  Buffalo  Park,  and  those  who  were  present  will 
never  forget  the  uproar  caused  by  the  beating  of  2  m.  14  s.  Had 
Splan  not  gone  to  the  half  quite  so  fast,  it  is  contended  by  a  good 
many  that  he  would  have  marked  below  2  m.  13  s.,  and  I  incline 
to  the  correctness  of  this  view.'^ 

At  Rochester  and  Utica  he  did  not  perform  up  to  his  reputation, 
but  at  Hartford,  August  23,  in  the  famous  duel  with  Edwin 
Forrest,  he  trotted  in  2  m.  15  s.,  2  m.  13j  s.,  and  2  m.  13f  s.,  the 
fastest  three  heats  on  record.  The  fame  of  this  exploit  extended 
over  the  country,  and  henceforth  the  Karus  days  were  the  big  days 
of  all  the  meetings  at  which  he  appeared  during  1878  and  1879, 
and  with  little  effort  he  could  earn  from  two  to  three  thousand  dol- 
lars a  week  from  the  opening  of  the  trotting  season  to  its  close. 


48  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OF    THE 

His  last  race  was  at  Utica,  August  28,  1879,  where  lie  beat  Hope- 
ful in  2  m.  17is.,  2  m.  16^  s.,  and  2  m.  16  s.  Mr.  Robert  Bonner 
then  purchased  him  for  $36,000. 

His  driver,  John  Splan,  says:  "I  never  saw  any  one  that  he 
seemed  very  fond  of,  except  Mr.  Conklin,  Dave  and  the  dog  Jimmy, 
without  some  mention  of  whom  no  history  of  Rarus  would  be  complete. 
This  dog  was  a  Scotch  terrier  that  was  presented  to  me  in  San  Fran- 
cisco by  a  fireman  when  he  was  a  youngster  of  about  two  months. 
I  took  him  to  the  track  and  gave  him  to  Dave,  who  advised  that 
he  be  put  in  Rarus's  stable.  I  cautioned  Dave  about  the  pup,  as  I 
had  seen  Rarus  make  the  fur  fly  from  one  or  two  dogs,  and  told 
him  that  he  might  not  have  any  dog,  unless  he  put  him  in  a  safe 
place.  In  a  few  days  I  asked  about  him,  and  he  told  me  that 
Rarus  and  the  dog  had  got  to  be  great  friends.  That  appeared 
rather  strange  to  me,  as,  while  I  had  always  treated  Rarus  very 
kindly,  he  was  never  disposed  to  make  friends  with  me.  In  ap- 
pearance this  dog  was  a  small,  wiry-haired  terrier,  weighing  about 
fifteen  pounds,  and  possessed  of  almost  human  intelligence.  The 
admiration  and  love  that  this  dog  and  horse  had  for  each  other 
equalled  anything  that  I  have  ever  seen  in  the  human  family. 

"  Not  only  were  they  extremely  fond  of  each  other,  but  they 
showed  their  aflfection  plainly  as  did  ever  a  man  for  a  woman. 
We  never  took  any  pains  to  teach  the  dog  anything  about  the 
horse.  Everything  he  knew  came  to  him  by  his  own  patience. 
From  the  time  I  took  him  to  the  stable  a  pup,  until  I  sold 
Rarus,  they  were  never  separated  an  hour.  We  once  left  the 
dog  in  the  stall  while  we  took  the  horse  to  the  blacksmith  shop, 
and  when  we  came  back  we  found  he  had  made  havoc  with  every- 
thing there  was  in  there,  trying  to  get  out,  while  the  horse,  during 
the  entire  journey,  was  uneasy,  restless,  and  in  general  acted  as 
bad  as  the  dog  did.  Dave  remarked  that  he  thought  that  we 
had  better  keep  the  horse  and  dog  together  after  that.  When 
Rarus  went  to  the  track  to  work  or  trot,  the  dog  would  follow 
Dave  around  and  eit  by  the  gate  at  his  side,  watching  Rarus 
with  as  much  interest  as  Dave  did.  When  the  horse  returned 
to  the  stable  after  a  heat,  and  was  unchecked,  the  dog  would 
walk  up  and  climb  up  on  his  forward  legs,  and  kiss  him,  the  horse 
always  bending  his  head  down  to  receive  his  caress.  In  the 
stable,  after  work  was  over,  Jim  and  the  horse  would  often  frolic 
like  two  boys.  If  the  horse  laid  down,  Jim  would  climb  on  his 
back,  and  in  that  way  soon  learned  to  ride  him,  and  whenever  I 
led  Rarus  out  to  show  him  to  the  public,  Jim  invariably  knew 
what  it  meant,  and  enhanced  the  value  of  the  performance  by  the 
manner  in  which  he  would  get  on  the  horse's  back.  On  these  occa- 
sions, the  horse  was  shown  to  halter,  and  Jimmy,  who  had  learned 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  49 

to  distinguish  such  events  from  those  in  which  the  sulky  was  used, 
would  follow  Dave  and  Rarus  out  on  the  quarter  stretch  ;  and  then, 
when  the  halt  was  made  in  front  of  the  grand  stand,  Dave  would 
stoop  down,  and  in  a  flash  Jimmy  would  jump  on  his  back,  run  up 
his  shoulder,  from  there  leap  on  the  horse's  back,  and  there  he 
would  stand,  his  head  high  in  the  air,  and  his  tail  out  stiflF  behind, 
barking  furiously  at  the  people.  He  seemed  to  know  that  he  was 
as  much  a  part  of  the  show  as  the  horse,  and  apparently  took 
great  delight  in  attracting  attention  to  himself.  I  had  severe 
tempting  ofl"ers  for  Jim  in  the  way  of  cash,  but  such  a  thing  as 
parting  with  him  never  entered  my  mind.  "When  Rarus  was  sold 
to  Mr.  Bonner,  Jimmy  was  not  included  in  the  bill  of  sale,  but  I 
felt  that  Rarus  belonged  to  Jimmy  and  Jimmy  to  Rarus.  After 
they  both  became  the  property  of  Mr.  Bonner,  the  affection  of  the 
dog  and  the  horse  for  each  other  never  abated,  and  this  was  well 
illustrated  on  one  occasion.  In  Mr.  Bonner's  down-town  stable 
was  a  bull  terrier,  a  rather  savage  fellow,  who  had  the  run  of  the 
place,  and  naturally  wanted  to  be  boss.  Jimmy,  who  was  brave  to 
a  fault,  attacked  the  bull-terrier  one  day,  and  the  result  was  that 
he  was  soon  knocked  out.  When  his  yelps  reached  Rarus,  whose 
stall  was  adjacent,  the  old  horse  made  a  break  for  the  centre  of 
the  barn,  and  had  he  not  been  restrained,  would  have  made  short 
work  of  the  bull-dog.  Mr.  Bonner  was  much  impressed  with  this 
incident,  and  afterward  related  it  to  the  writer  as  evidence  of  how 
strong  the  bond  of  affection  between  these  two  animals  was." 

One  bright,  sunny  day  in  1873,  Mr.  James  Galway,  who  owned 
a  half-mile  track  at  the  beautiful  village  of  Goshen,  in  Orange 
County,  N.  Y.,  was  attracted  by  the  appearance  of  a  handsome  bay 
colt,  who  spun  around  the  track  at  a  rapid  gait.  The  track,  when 
not  wanted  for  the  regular  races,  was  generously  thrown  open  to  any 
of  the  neighboring  farmers  or  village  horsemen  who  wished  to  try 
the  mettle  of  their  horses,  and,  being  kept  in  good  condition,  was 
frequented  daily  by  many  who  imagined  they  were  the  happy  pos- 
sessors of  future  Dexters  or  Edwin  Forrests.  The  driver  of  the 
colt  in  question  was  a  stranger,  old  and  shabby,  and  the  wagon  and 
harness  were  in  keepinsj  with  the  driver's  appearance;  but  the 
horse's  action  was  so  good  and  his  speed  so  evident,  that  Mr.  Galway 
hailed  the  stranger  and  questioned  him  about  the  breeding  of  the 
colt.  This  could  not  but  bo  satisfactory,  for  royal  blood  coursed 
through  his  veins.  He  was  foaled  in  1869,  his  sire  being  Volunteer 
and  his  dam  a  daughter  of  Coming's  Harry  Clay.  The  farmer 
drove  him  twice  round  the  track,  and  jNIr.  Galway  quickly  consum- 
mated the  bargain,  and  paid  the  owner  the  price  asked,  S600.  He 
made  his  debut  at  Poughkeepsie  August  4, 1875.  Great  Eastern, 
the  GoHah  of  the  turf,  won  the  first  heat  in  2  m.  30  s.,  with  St. 
4 


50  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OF    THE 

Julien  a  close  Becond.     St.   Julien  then   cut  loose  and  won  the 
three  remaining  heats  and  the  race  in  2  m.  30  s.,  2  m.  2G\  s., 
and  2  m.  30|  s.     Three  days  later  at  the  same  place  he  started 
in  the   2  m.   34  s.  class,  winning   the  lirst,  second,  and  fourth 
heats  in  2  m.  26i  s.,  2  m.  30  s.,  and  2  m.  26f  s.,  Tom  Moore, 
a   young  stallion  by  Jupiter   Abdallah,  taking   the   second  heat 
in  2  m.  28  s.     He  then  went  to   Hampden  Park,  Springfield, 
Mass.,  where  on  the  first  day  of  the  meeting  he  won  the  2  m.  38  s. 
purse  easily  in  straight  heats,  best  time  2  m.  28  s.     Three  days 
later  at  the  same  place  he  met  Nerea,  John  W.  Hall,  Unknown, 
Frank  Munson,  Sir  William  Wallace,  Queen,  and  Lady  Morrison 
in  the  2  m.  34  s.  class,  and  a  desperate  struggle  ensued.     Nerea 
was  the  favorite  at  two  to  one  over  St.  Julien,  and  justified  the 
partiality  of  her  friends  by  winning  the  first  heat  in  2  m.  23^  s., 
by  a  head,  with  St.  Julien  second  and  Unknown  third.    The  latter 
then  won  the  second  heat  in  precisely  the  same  time,  St.  Julien 
again  coming  in  second.     St.  Julien   now  went  to  the  front  and 
won  the  three  remaining  heats  and  the  race  in  2  m.  22^  s.,  2  m. 
26^  s.,  and  2  m.  27  s.     At  Hartford,  August  31,  he  defeated  a 
good  field  in  straight  heats  in  2  m.  28J  s.,  2  m.  26^  s.,  and  2  m. 
2G^  s.,  and  two  days  later  at  the  same  meeting  he  appeared  for  the 
sixth  and  last  time  that  year,  winning  as  he  pleased  from  Great 
Eastern,  Sister,  and  Goldfinder  in  straight  heats  in  2  m.  25f  s., 
2  m.  23|  s.,  and  2  m.  24^  s.     This  was  his  last  engagement  that 
season.    His  career  had  been  a  brief  one,  but  exceptionally  brilliant. 
He  had  met  some  of  the  fastest  and  most  promising  trotters  then 
on  the  turf,  and  not  a  single  defeat  dimmed  the  glory  of  his  achieve- 
ments.    His  winnings  in  purses  alone  in  that  brief  campaign  of 
less  than  a  month  amounted  to  S8400,  and  consequently  when  he 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Orrin  A.  Hickok,  the  skillful  Cali- 
fornia driver,  for  the  princely  sum  of  $20,000,  good  judges  did  not 
consider  the  price  extravagant.     His  career  on  the  Pacific  slope 
was  at  first  a  disappointment  to  his  new  owners.     He  trotted  but 
one  race  the  next  year  at  San  Francisco,  September  2,  1876,  in  a 
match  for  $10,000,  defeating  Dan  Voorhees,  who  won  the  first 
heat,  in  2  m.  26^  s.,  2  m.  2ok  s.,  2  m.  30i  s.,  and  2  m.  29f  s.,  by 
no  means  remarkable  time  for  such  a  phenomenon  as  he  was  claimed 
to  be.     He  did  not  trot  again  that  year,  nor  in  1877,  nor  in  1878, 
and  when  on  the  13th  of  September,  1879,  he  appeared  as  one  of 
the  contestants  for  the  Free-for-all  Purse  at  Sacramento,  it  was  like 
a  resurrection  from  the  dead.    Nutwood  won  a  hard-fought  race  of 
five  heats,  the  best  of  which  was  2  m.  20  s.    St.  Julien  made  such 
an  inglorious  showing,  being  absolutely  last  in  the  first  two  heats 
and  having  the  distance  flag  dropped  in  his  face  in  the  third,  that 
when  at  Stockton  one  week  later  he  defeated  Graves  and  Nutwood 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  51 

in  2  m.  17  s.,  0  m.  0  s.,  2  m.  18^  s.,  and  2  m.  24  s.,  the  public 
could  hardly  realize  that  he  was  at  last  coming  back  to  his  time, 
and  that  the  new  star  was  to  shine  with  a  brighter  light  than  any 
of  its  predecessors.  In  this  race  Graves  won  the  second  heat,  but 
the  time  was  declared  no  record.  The  owners  of  St.  Julien  felt 
assured  that  he  could  do  better  than  this,  and  when  Gen,  Grant 
had  returned  from  his  tour  round  the  world,  and  California  was 
lavishing  her  honors  upon  him,  they,  too,  thought  that  they  would 
show  the  ex-President  a  faster  trotting  horse  than  any  he  had  seen 
in  his  travels,  and  accordingly  an  exhibition  was  arranged  for  his 
benefit  at  Oakland  Park,  San  Francisco,  October  25,  and  St. 
Julien  entered  for  a  purse  of  8800  conditioned  upon  his  beating 
Rarus'  famous  record  of  2  m.  131^  s.  The  result  is  told  in  the 
following  abstract  from  the  San  Francisco  Call  of  the  next  day : 

"  When  the  horses  were  called.  General  Grant  and  Senator 
Sharon  accompanied  the  president  of  the  association,  Dr.  E.  H. 
Pardee,  to  the  judges'  stand.  The  great  event  of  the  day  was  the 
attempt  of  St.  Julien,  with  a  running  mate,  to  beat  the  best  trotting 
record  for  a  purse  of  $800.  The  track  was  in  a  very  favorable 
condition  for  fast  time.  After  a  short  delay  St.  Julien  passed 
through  the  gate  and  proceeded  leisurely  down  the  track  to  take  a 
little  preparatory  exercise  previous  to  the  trial  in  two  dashes  to 
eclipse  2  m.  V6\  s.,  the  record  of  Rarus,  the  king  of  the  trotting 
turf.  The  horse  looked  w^onderfully  fit  and  strong,  and  moved 
with  such  ease  and  freedom  that  those  who  had  seen  him  make  a 
mile  at  Stockton,  and  do  even  faster  time  at  San  Jose,  were  con- 
fident that  he  would  lower  that  record,  but  were  too  skeptical  to 
imagine  that  the  name  of  St.  Julien  would  be  flashed  last  night  all 
through  the  land  with  2  m.  12f  s.  to  his  credit.  There  was  no 
betting  on  the  event,  but  bets  were  freely  offered  at  $50  to  $25 
that,  not  even  in  honor  of  the  presence  of  General  Grant,  would 
the  record  of  Karus  be  beaten.  At  the  second  attempt  the  bay 
gelding,  disdaining  the  aid  of  the  running  mate,  came  down  to  the 
score  at  a  grand  swinging  gait,  and  Hickok  nodding  assent,  the 
bell  sounded  and  St.  Julien  sped  along  on  his  first  trial,  and  hun- 
dreds of  watches  were  set  clicking  to  beat  time  with  his  own 
miniature  weapons.  General  Grant  stood  in  the  corner  of  the 
grand  stand  nearest  the  distance  pole,  and  followed  with  an  intense 
gaze  the  fleeting  animal  as  he  passed  around  the  lower  turn,  and 
when  he  reached  the  quarter  mile  in  33  s.,  or  at  a  2  m.  12  s.  gait, 
there  was  a  perceptible  movement  of  surprise  that  was  intensified 
as  the  noble  horse  still  increased  his  stride  and  reached  the  half  in 
1  m.  5i  s.,  or  the  second  quarter  at  the  rate  of  2  m.  9  s.  There 
was  a  subdued  murmur,  and  the  spectators  became  seemingly  im- 
bued with  the  idea  of  witnessing  a  grand  performance  as  St.  Julien 


52  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OF    THE 

Bped  on  his  way  and  reached  the  three-quarter  pole  in  1  m.  40  s., 
or  the  third  quarter  at  the  rate  of  2  m.  19  s.,  but  when  well  into 
the  home-stretch  he  again  increased  his  stride,  and,  urged  to  his 
utmost,  he  came  along  with  a  magnificent  stride,  and  passed  under 
the  wire  in  the  unprecedented  time  of  2  m.  12f  s.  without  the 
slightest  skip  or  break,  the  last  quarter  being  made  at  the  superb 
gait  of  2  m.  11  s.  to  the  mile.  The  declaration  of  the  record  was 
received  with  great  applause,  in  which  the  General  joined  heartily, 
and  the  gallant  horse  and  his  skillful  driver  were  received  with 
rousing  cheers  as  the  latter  returned  to  dismount  and  to  show  by 
the  scales  one  pound  overweight.  General  Grant  was  so  delighted 
with  the  achievement  that  he  went  round  to  St.  Julien's  stables 
between  the  heats  of  the  2  m.  29  s.  trot  to  look  the  horse  over  and 
to  congratulate  Mr.  Hickok." 

Thus  closed  the  season  of  1879  in  a  sunset  of  glory,  and  there 
seemed  little  prospect  that  the  record  just  made  would  be  surpassed 
for  years  to  come,  unless  St.  Julien  himself  should  do  it.  In  the 
spring  of  1880  his  owner  and  trainer,  Mr.  Hickok,  brought  the 
champion  east,  and  at  Detroit  and  Ionia  he  gave  exhibition  trots 
preparatory  to  entering  the  Grand  Circuit.  At  Chicago,  July  22, 
he  easily  defeated  Darby  and  Hopeful  in  straight  heats  m  2  m. 
171  s.,  2  m.  18^  s.,  2  m.  16  J  s.,  and  at  Cleveland,  the  following  week, 
he  beat  the  same  horses  and  Trinket  and  Great  Eastern  in  2  m. 
15f  s.,  2  m.  18|  s.,  and  2  m.  17^  s.  At  Bufi"alo  Trinket  dropped 
out,  but  the  story  was  still  the  same,  St.  Julien  winning  as  he 
liked  in  2  m.  16f  s.,  2  m.  16f  s.,  2  m.  15i  s.  But  now  the 
shadow  of  a  greater  competitor  than  any  he  had  yet  met  came 
across  his  path,  and  at  Rochester,  August  12,  he  and  Maud  S. 
fought  their  famous  duel,  each  trotting  against  time  to  beat  St. 
Julien's  California  record,  and  each  achieving  the  same  record  of 
2  m.  llf  s.  At  Springfield  he  gave  Darby  and  Hopeful  another 
drubbing,  and  at  Hartford,  August  27,  he  reached  the  climax  of 
his  fame,  and  lowered  his  record  to  2  m.  Hi  s.  He  then  started 
for  his  home  in  the  far  west,  stopping  on  the  way  at  Minneapolis, 
where  he  vainly  endeavored  to  beat  his  record.  He  wintered  well, 
and  when,  in  the  spring  of  1881,  he  again  eame  east,  high  antici- 
pations of  future  conquests  were  entertained  by  expectant  horsemen, 
but  he  caught  a  severe  cold  at  the  very  outset  and  never  after- 
ward did  anything  worthy  of  note,  and  died  in  California  in  the 
autumn  of  1894 — the  horse  of  a  day  ! 

France's  Alexander,  a  handsome  black  stallion,  sixteen  hands 
high,  by  Ben  Patchen,  a  grandson  of  Flora  Temple's  famous  com- 
petitor, dam  by  Canada  Jack,  a  grandson  of  old  St.  Lawrence,  was 
foaled  in  1874.  As  a  five-year-old,  he  started  six  times  without 
success,  having  the  misfortune  to  be  pitted  against  Robert  Mc- 
Gregor, a  magnificent  chestnut,  grandson  of  Alexander's  Abdalldh, 


AMERICAN    TROTTING   HORSE.  53 

who  was  well  nigh  invincible  that  year.  The  next  year  he  only 
won  two  out  of  the  five  races  in  which  he  started,  but  in  1881  he 
redeemed  himself,  and  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  trotting 
stallions.  He  commenced  the  season  by  beating,  at  Point  Breeze 
Park,  Philadelphia,  May  17,  his  old  opponent,  Kobert  McGregor, 
who  won  the  second  heat,  Jersey  Boy,  as  game  a  little  trotter  as 
ever  trod  the  local  tracks,  Silverton,  Scotland,  Edwin  Thorne  and 
Hambletonian  Mambrino.  At  Belmont  Park  the  following  week 
he  defeated  Jersey  Boy,  Edwin  Thorne,  Voltaire,  Kentucky 
Wilkes  and  Irene  in  straight  heats.  He  then  went  to  Boston, 
where  he  won  two  races  easily,  and  then  to  Providence,  where  he 
showed  his  heels  to  Jersey  Boy,  Sheridan,  Wizz  and  Banquo, 
whose  ghost  did  not  trouble  him  that  day.  With  this  unbroken 
series  of  victories,  he  went  to  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  on  July  4 
trotted,  in  the  $10,000  purse  for  stallions,  the  race  of  his  life. 
He  won  the  first  heat  in  2  m.  19s.,  and  was  second  to  Robert 
McGregor  in  the  next  two  in  2  m.  19  s.,  2  m.  18|  s. ;  the  fourth  heat 
he  won  in  2  m.  19is.  Each  of  the  leading  horses  had  now  won 
two  heats,  and  every  one  expected  that  the  next  heat  would  finish 
the  race,  but  the  crafty  Hickok  brought  up  Santa  Claus,  who, 
being  comparatively  fresh,  won  the  fifth  and  sixth  heats  in  2  m. 
21  s.,  2  m.  23  s.,  and  fully  expected  to  win  the  race.  Hannis, 
Wedgewood,  Bonesetter  and  Monroe  Chief  were  sent  to  the  stables 
for  not  winning  one  heat  in  five,  and  as  the  three  game  but  tired 
leaders  came  up  for  the  seventh  time  the  excitement  was  intense. 
Alexander  won  the  heat  and  the  race  in  2  m.  25  js.,  with  Santa 
Claus  second  and  Robert  McGregor  third,  and  the  vast  audience 
went  home  hoarse  with  the  cheering.  Though  he  won  lasting 
glory  from  this  hard  race,  it  was  some  time  before  he  was  himself 
again,  and  in  the  following  year,  just  as  he  was  preparing  for  a  new 
campaign,  he  was  suddenly  withdrawn  from  the  turf  and  sent  to 
Kentucky  to  fill  the  place  which  George  Wilkes'  lamented  death 
had  left  vacant.  He  was  exported  to  Austria  in  1885,  and  trotted 
Bome  good  races  there.  As  a  sire,  neither  in  this  country  nor  in 
Europe,  has  he  proved  nearly  as  successful  as  his  old  antagonist, 
Robert  McGregor,  who  has  now  over  fourscore  trotters  and  pacers 
within  the  magic  circle,  of  which  thirty-one  have  a  record  of  less 
than  2  m.  20  s.,  and  that  most  promising  trotter,  the  chestnut  stal- 
lion Cresceus  has  a  three-year-old  record  of  2  m.  ll^s.,  and  a 
seven-year-old  stallion  championship  of  2.02i. 

The  little  gray  gelding  Hopeful,  the  pride  of  Dan  Mace's  heart, 
was  a  very  fast  horse.  He  was  foaled  in  Maine  in  1866,  and 
was  sired  by  Godfrey's  Patchen,  a  son  of  Flora  Temple's  famous 
competitor,  and  his  dam  was  a  gray  mare  by  the  Bridham  horse, 
who  is  supposed  to  have  been  an  immediate  descendant  of  Win- 
throp  Messenger.     He  first  appeared  on  the  turf  at  Springfield, 


54  A   SHORT    HISTORY    OF   THE 

August  25,  1873,  but  only  finished  fourth  in  a  field  of  five.  He 
then  essayed  his  fortunes  in  four  races,  winning  two  of  them  and  a 
record  of  2  m.  25  s.  In  1874  he  trotted  seven  races,  winning  five, 
being  beaten  only  by  Bodine,  the  fast  son  of  Volunteer,  and  lowered 
his  record  to  2  m.  21  s.  At  Fleetwood  Park,  May  22,  1875, 
Kansas  Chief  beat  him.  He  now  lay  by  until  August  5,  when  he 
appeared  at  Poughkeepsie  in  the  2  m.  18  s.  class,  defeating  Lady 
Maud,  Judge  Fullerton,  who  took  the  first  heat,  Huntress  and  two 
others,  in  2  m.  21  s.,  2  m.  22f  s.,  2  m.  28  s.,  and  2  m.  28  s.  At 
Hampden  Park,  three  weeks  later,  he  beat  Lady  Maud  and  Kansas 
Chief  in  2  m.  28  s.,  2  m.  24  s.,  and  2  m.  20  s.,  and  on  the  last  day 
of  that  month,  at  Hartford,  he  beat  Lady  Maud,  Lucille  Golddust, 
and  Henry,  in  2  m.  181  s.,  2  m.  22J  s.,  and  2  m.  23J  s.,  Lady 
Maud  taking  the  third  and  fourth  in  2  m.  19  s.  and  2  m.  20^  s., 
and  at  the  same  place,  September  3,  he  defeated  American  Girl  in 
three  straight  heats  in  2  m.  171-  s.,  2  m.  18i^  s.,  and  2  m.  18J  s. 
Great  as  the  achievement  was,  Dan  Mace,  in  his  "  Experience  with 
Trotters,''  published  in  the  Spirit  of  the  Times,  says,  "  On  that  day 
Hopeful  could  have  trotted  a  mile  in  2  m.  12  s.,  although  his  best 
time  was  only  2  m.  17  i  s.  I  never  let  loose  of  his  head,  never  asked 
him  to  go,  and  never  wanted  him  to  go ;  and  in  no  place  in  that 
mile  did  he  go  as  fast  as  he  could.  ...  I  don't  think  there  is  a 
horse  alive  that  can  out-trot  him  now;  not  a  horse  on  the  turf  that 
can  outspeed  him."  In  1876,  owing  to  a  foot  difficulty,  he  was 
unable  to  trot,  but,  June,  1877,  at  Fleetwood  Park,  he  started  in 
the  Free-for-all  Purse,  with  Judge  Fullerton,  Albemarle,  and  Ade- 
laide, and  astonished  his  owner,  driver,  and  everybody  else,  by  his 
performance,  winning  the  first  heat  in  2  m.  18^  s.,  by  three-quar- 
ters of  a  second  the  fastest  mile  ever  trotted  on  the  track,  and 
taking  the  race  handily  without  a  skip,  in  three  heats — time,  2  m. 
18'i  s.,  2  m.  20  s.,  and  2  m.  21  s.  At  Boston,  July  5,  he  beat 
Great  Eastern  in  2  m.  22  s.,  2  m.  20^  s.,  2  m.  18|  s.,  and  2  m. 
19i  s.,  Great  Eastern  taking  the  second  heat.  He  next  appeared 
in  the  Grand  Circuit  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  July  13,  where  he  beat 
Judge  Fullerton  for  the  Free-for-all  Purse,  then  back  to  Boston, 
where,  July  23,  he  met  the  great  Smuggler  and  defeated  him  in 
straight  heats,  the  fastest  of  which  was  2  m.  19J  s.  He  did  not 
start  at  Cleveland,  Buffalo,  or  Rochester,  but  at  Utica,  August  17, 
he  suffered  defeat  from  Lucille  Golddust,  who  had  to  trot  in  2  m. 
17^  s.,  2  m.  181  s.,  and  2  m.  18|  s.  to  beat  him ;  but  at  Poughkeepsie 
he  regained  his  laurels,  defeating  Lucille  Golddust  and  Nettie  after 
a  hard-fought  race  of  five  heats.  At  Hartford,  Long  Branch,  Fleet- 
wood Park,  and  Cleveland,  Rarus  beat  him,  and  he  went  into  win- 
ter quarters  quite  under  a  cloud.  In  1878  he  went  through  the 
Michigan  Circuit  with  success,  was  beaten  by  Great  Eastern  at 


AMERICAN    TROTTING   HORSE. 


55 


Toledo  in  slow  time,  and  entered  the  Grand  Circuit  at  Cleveland, 
July  25,  where  he  beat  Proteine,  Great  Eastern,  Nettie,  and  Cozette 
in  the  wonderful  time  of  2  m.  17i  s.,  2  m.  15f  s.  and  2  m.  15^  s., 
and  at  Buffalo,  Rochester,  Utica,  and  Hartford,  he  was  alike 
triumphant,  and  at  Minneapolis,  September  6,  he  attained  the 
height  of  his  glory  by  trotting  a  mile  in  2  m.  14|  s.  At  Kansas 
City,  September  20,  he  beat  Great  Eastern  in  straight  heats,  and 
in  the  following  week  at  Quincy,  111.,  he  beat  him  and  Scott's 
Thomas.  At  St.  Louis,  October  3,  he  trotted  against  time  in  2  m. 
151  s.,  2  m.  15  s.,  and  2  m.  15i  s.  At  Chicago,  October  10,  a 
handicap  was  devised,  Hopeful  to  go  in  harness  against  Rarus  to 
wagon  and  Great  Eastern  under  the  saddle.  The  little  gray  geld- 
ing won  in  2  m.  17^  s.,  2  m.  17  s.,  and  2  m.  16  s.,  and  two  days 
after  at  the  same  meeting  trotted  against  time,  to  wagon,  in  2  m. 
16^  s.,  2  m.  17  s.,  and  2  m.  17  s.,  which  is  the  best  wagon  time  on 
record.  He  wound  up  this  memorable  year  at  Albany,  N.  Y., 
winning  the  special  purse,  best  time  2  m.  20^  s.  He  wintered  at 
Point  Breeze  Park,  Philadelphia,  and  came  out  in  fine  fettle  for 
the  season  of  1879.  At  Suffolk  Park,  May  16,  he  trotted  against 
time  in  2  m.  18  s.,  wonderful  time  for  so  early  in  the  season. 
Over  the  Ambler  half-mile  track.  May  22,  he  trotted  in  2  m.  19| 
s.,  2  m.  19  s.,  and  2  m.  22^  s.,  the  three  fastest  heats  ever  trotted 
over  a  half-mile  track  in  Pennsylvania.  At  Belmont  the  following 
week  he  trotted  against  time  in  2  m.  21  s.,  2  m.  171  s.,  and  2  m. 
17i  s.,  and  then,  taking  Horace  Greeley's  famous  advice  to  "  go 
West,"  he  started  for  Chicago,  stopping  at  Butler  and  Bradford, 
in  the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania,  at  which  he  trotted  in  2  m. 
18f  s.  and  2  m.  19f  s.  respectively,  winning  good  purses  at  both 
places.  At  Chicago  his  good  fortune  left  him,  and  in  his  endeavor 
to  beat  Goldsmith  Maid's  famous  record,  2  m.  18|  s.  was  the  best 
he  could  accomplish.  From  this  time  until  late  in  the  fall  he  was 
out  of  condition  and  unable  to  do  anything  worthy  of  his  fame. 
Rarus  beat  him  easily  at  Chicago,  Cleveland,  and  Utica  in  straight 
heats.  But  the  gray  was  recovering  some  of  his  old  form,  and 
an  immense  crowd  assembled  at  Hartford  to  see  the  meeting  between 
the  two  flyers;  but  Rarus  was  sold  to  Mr.  Bonner  just  before  the 
race  and  did  not  make  his  appearance,  and  in  order  that  the  spec- 
tators might  not  be  disappointed,  a  race  was  improvised  with  the 
wonderful  blind  pacer  Sleepy  Tom,  who  had  paced  a  mile  at  Chicago. 
July  25,  1879,  in  2  m.  121  s. ;  but  the  pacer  was  of  no  account 
that  day,  and  Hopeful  won  easily.  At  Minneapolis,  September  5, 
he  beat  the  gray  pacer  Lucy,  and  at  Quincy,  111.,  he  beat  her  again, 
the  time  at  the  latter  place  being  2  m.  16^  s.,  2  m.  17^  s.,  2  m.  17  s., 
and  2  m.  18^  s.  At  Cedar  Rapids  he  trotted  against  time,  but 
could  do  no  better  than  2  m.  232  s.,  and  with  this  failure  he  closed 
his  labors  for  the  season. 


56  A   SHORT   HISTORY   OP   THE 

In  Scribner's  Magazine  for  June,  1896,  is  an  engraving  entitled 
"  The  Old  Age  of  the  Trotter  Edwin  Forrest  (twenty-four  years 
old,  record  2:18)  and  Beaver  Dam  (sixteen  years  old).  From  a 
photograph  made  at  Mr.  Bonner's  Tarrytown  farm  in  August, 
1895,"  and  yet  it  does  not  seem  so  long  ago  that  horsemen  hailed 
this  same  Edwin  Forrest,  who  is  depicted  as  drawing  a  lawn-mower, 
as  the  coming  champion  of  the  American  trotting  turf.  He  was  a  rich 
bay  gelding,  16  hands  high,  was  foaled  in  Cass  county,  Missouri, 
in  1871.  His  sire  was  a  horse  called  Ned  Forrest,  Jr.,  and  his 
dam  a  granddaughter  of  the  thoroughbred  Leviathan.  Taken  to 
Kentucky  when  young,  he  trotted  his  first  race  there  in  1875.  In 
1877  he  won  two  races  at  Madison,  Ind.,  beating  Proteine,  Kitty 
Bates,  and  Andy  Meshon,  while  in  a  race  which  he  lost  at  Lexing- 
ton, Ky.,  he  attained  a  record  of  2  m.  2^\  s.  In  1878  he  passed 
into  the  hands  of  Gus  Grlidden,  and  entered  the  Michigan  Circuit 
in  the  spring,  but  being  kept  for  the  Grand  Circuit  he  was  not 
allowed  to  win  for  fear  of  lowering  his  record.  At  Toledo,  however, 
the  entries  to  the  Grand  Circuit  being  completed,  he  was  given  his 
head  and  won  in  straight  heats,  the  fastest  of  which  was  2  m.  23  s. 

When  the  bell  rang  for  the  2  m.  24  s.  class  at  Cleveland,  July 
24,  1878,  and  Trampoline,  Darby,  Edward,  Dick  Moore,  Alley,  and 
Edwin  Forrest  answered  the  summons,  the  spectators  knew  that 
there  would  be  a  good  race,  but  few  expected  that  Edwin  Forrest, 
after  breaking  and  losing  the  first  heat  to  Edward,  would  win  the 
last  three  heats  in  the  quick  time  of  2  m.  19i  s.,  2  m.  20^  s.,  and 
2  m.  18^  s.,  the  last  heat  being  won  in  a  jog.  At  Buffalo  he  won 
from  the  same  field  in  2  m.  20  s.,  2  m.  20^  s.,  and  2  m.  20|  s., 
and  at  Rochester  he  won  again  in  quick  time.  In  all  these  races 
his  superiority  over  his  opponents  was  so  evident  that  at  Utica  a  con- 
spiracy was  formed  by  the  owners  and  drivers  of  the  various  horses 
in  the  race,  Forrest's  driver  being  one  of  them,  to  make  him  a 
great  favorite  in  the  betting,  and  then  pull  him  so  as  to  lose  the 
race.  This  disgraceful  job  succeeded  only  too  well,  and  the  speedy 
Edward  was  the  winner;  and  though  the  National  Association 
months  afterwards  ferreted  out  and  punished  the  originators  and 
abettors  of  the  fraud,  it  will  be  years  before  the  turf  recovers  from 
the  wounds  it  then  received  at  the  hands  of  its  professing  friends. 
In  the  fourth  heat  of  that  race  he  came  from  the  rear  at  the  hist 
with  a  burst  of  speed  that  amazed  all  beholders,  and  caused  Charley 
Green  to  make  a  dead  rush  for  his  owner  and  secure  the  refusal  of 
him  at  $16,000,  within  five  minutes. 

The  real  purchaser  was  Mr.  Robert  Bonner,  of  New  York.  Not 
wishing  to  endanger  the  reputation  of  the  horse  until  he  should 
become  familiarized  with  his  new  driver,  Green  did  not  start  him 
until  the  last  day  of  Hartford  Meeting.     When,  after  Rarus  had 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  57 

trotted  his  first  trial  in  the  Special  Speed  Purse,  in  2  m.  15  s.,  the 
starters  proclaimed  that  Mr.  Green  had  a  horse  that  he  thought 
could  go  in  about  2  m.  10  s.,  and  Edwin  Forrest  was  brought  out, 
few  thought  that  the  statement  was  more  than  an  empty  boast. 
Charley  Grreen  drove  him,  and  at  the  second  attempt  nodded  for 
the  word.  The  horse  struck  out  gamely,  and  was  at  the  quarter  in 
34  s. — half  a  second  better  than  Karus  had  just  done.  Down  the 
back-stretch  he  went  like  the  wind,  and  passed  the  half  in  1  m.  6  J  s. 
He  slowed  up  from  this  flying  pace  on  the  turn,  and  came  by  the 
three-quarter  pole  in  1  m.  40 1  s.  (third  quarter  in  34  s.),  and  came 
down  under  the  wire  in  2  m.  14J  s. — half  a  second  better  than 
Rarus  had  done.  When  this  was  announced  the  excitement  was 
intense,  for  2  m.  14^  s.  was  all  Goldsmith  Maid  could  do  at  Hart- 
ford, two  years  previous.  Karus  was  now  put  on  his  mettle,  and 
trotted  the  second  trial  in  2  m.  13 J  s.  (last  quarter  in  32j  s.).  But 
Green  thought  he  could  beat  that,  and  that  Forrest  was  the  horse 
that  could  do  it.  On  the  second  trial  he  was  sent  off,  and  he  went 
to  the  quarter  in  33J  s.,  without  a  skip.  Then  it  seemed  as  if  he 
had  not  been  half  trying.  Such  trotting  was  never  seen  before.  He 
fairly  flew,  and  it  looked  as  though  2  m.  10  s.  would  be  made;  but 
the  pace  was  too  fast,  and  he  broke  badly  when  about  eight  lengths 
from  the  half-mile  pole,  losing  several  lengths,  but  Green  caught  him 
skillfully,  and  he  was  soon  under  full  headway,  reaching  the  half- 
mile  pole  in  1  m.  5i  s.  (second  quarter  in  31  f  s.).  Before  he  reached 
the  middle  of  the  third  quarter  he  again  went  in  the  air,  and  though 
he  soon  recovered,  Green  had  lost  hope  of  surpassing  his  first  effort 
and  did  not  hurry  him.  The  three-quarter  pole  was  passed  in  1  m. 
40  i  s.,  and  he  was  coming  down  the  home-stretch  at  a  fair  gait,  when 
a  friend  who  had  run  up  to  that  place  motioned  to  Green  to  go  on, 
as  there  was  still  hope.  From  that  point  Forrest  was  sent  along, 
'and  came  under  the  wire,  amid  loud  cheering,  in  2  m.  16  s. 

After  he  became  an  inmate  of  Mr.  Bonner's  stable  his  progress 
was  remarkable.  Mr.  Robert  Bonner  drove  him  to  wagon  on  his 
three-quarter  mile  track  near  Tarry  town,  N.  Y.,  a  mile  in  2  m.  15^^ 
s.,  and  the  various  members  of  the  Tarrytown  family  delighted  to 
exhibit  the  prowess  of  the  new  favorite.  In  July,  1879,  a  week 
later,  Mr.  A.  A.  Bonner  drove  him  a  mile  in  harness  in  2  m.  13f  s. 
On  August  9,  Mr.  John  Murphy,  the  favorite  pupil  of  old  Hiram 
Woodruff,  drove  him  a  mile  in  2  m.  11 1  s.  Although  these  trials 
were  witnessed  by  several  reliable  persons,  and  the  time  made  can 
be  depended  upon  as  entirely  accurate,  not  having  been  made  in  a 
public  race,  neither  they  nor  the  trial  at  Hartford  can  go  upon  the 
record.  And  to  think  of  this  great  horse  becoming  a  farm  drudge, 
and  leisurely  dragging  a  lawn-mower ! ! ! 

"  To  what  base  uses  we  may  return,  Horatio  I" 


58  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OF   THE 

The  Chicajro  meeting  of  July,  1880,  was  an  unusually  brilliant 
one.  St.  Julien,  Hopeful,  Darby,  Charley  Ford,  Hannis,  Monroe 
Chief,  Bonesetter,  Wedgewood,  Piedmont,  Will  Cody,  Parana,  Vol- 
taire, Hambletonian  Bashaw,  Josephus,  Daisydale  and  Etta  Jones, 
representatives  of  all  the  prominent  trotting  families,  were  among 
the  contestants,  and  a  general  slashing  of  the  records  ensued.  But 
amid  the  vast  throng  assembled  at  the  course  from  day  to  day  there 
were  very  few  who  dreamed  that  a  match,  on  the  last  day  of  meet- 
ing, was  to  introduce  to  the  trotting  world  one  who  would  shortly 
dispossess  the  mighty  St.  Julien  of  his  premiership.  This  was  a 
Special  Purse  of  ^1000,  for  which  the  five-year-old  Trinket  and  the 
six-year-old  Maud  S.  were  entered.  Trinket  was  a  bay  mare  by 
Princeps,  son  of  Woodford  Mambrino,  and  her  dam  was  Ouida,  by 
Rysdyk's  Hambletonian.  As  a  four-year-old  she  had  astonished 
the  world  by  equalling  Flora  Temple's  famous  record,  and  though 
the  next  year  she  sadly  disappointed  her  backers,  since  then,  in 
more  capable  hands,  she  proved  herself  one  of  the  greatest  mares 
that  ever  stood  on  iron.  In  the  Chicago  match,  however,  although 
the  favorite  in  the  betting,  she  was  flighty  and  acted  badly,  while 
Maud  S.,  steady  as  an  old  campaigner,  won  the  first  two  heats 
easily  in  2  m.  19  s  ,  2  m.  21is.  Then,  to  the  astonishment  of  all 
present.  Captain  Stone  boldly  announced  that  in  the  next  heat  dis- 
tance would  be  waived,  and  as  an  arrow  from  the  bow  the  beauti- 
ful chestnut  shot  away,  and  passed  under  the  wire  in  the  wonder- 
ful time  of  2  m.  13j  s. 

Maud  S.  was  a  beautiful  golden-chestnut  mare,  fifteen  hands 
three  inches  at  the  withers,  and  one  and  a  half  inches  higher  at 
the  peak  of  the  rump.  Her  head  and  ears  large  and  rather  coarse; 
her  neck  as  fine  as  a  thoroughbred,  her  shoulders  muscular;  she 
was  long  in  the  barrel,  coupled  well  back,  with  strong  loins,  power- 
ful symmetrical  legs,  and  good  feet.  She  wore  a  fourteen-ounce 
shoe  forward,  with  four-ounce  toe  weights,  and  light  shoes  behind. 
Her  action  was  the  very  poetry  of  motion,  and  as  she  glided  by  in 
the  third  heat  of  her  great  trot  at  Belmont  Park,  the  writer  thought 
he  had  never  before  seen  any  piece  of  machinery  move  so  steadily 
or  so  beautifully.  She  was  foaled  on  the  Woodburn  Stud  Farm 
on  the  28th  of  May,  1875,  and  was  sired  by  Harold,  son  of  Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian.  Her  dam  was  Miss  Russell,  a  daughter  of  Pilot, 
Jr.,  out  of  Sally  Russell  by  Boston,  the  sire  of  Lexington  and 
Lecompte.  She  was  Owned,  until  her  fourth  year,  by  Captain 
George  N.  Stone,  and,  being  a  very  great  pet,  was  named 
Maud  S.  after  his  daughter.  When  she  was  four  years  old, 
driven  by  her  trainer  William  W.  Bair,  she  trotted  an  exhibi- 
tion mile  in  2  m.  17is.,  and  was  sold  to  Mr.  William  H.  Vander- 
bilt  for  $21,000. 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE. 


59 


At  Cincinnati,  July  6,  1880,  she  defeated  Josephus,  Lizzie 
2d,  and  Outlaw,  in  straight  heats,  best  time  2  m.  25  s. ;  her  next 
race  was  that  with  Trinket  described  above.  At  Cleveland,  July  28, 
she  defeated  Driver,  Charley  Ford,  and  Hannis,  in  straight  heats, 
and  at  Buffalo  she  met  the  same  horses,  and  after  losing  the  first 
heat  to  Charley  Ford  in  2  m.  17  s.,  won  the  next  three  in  2  m. 
ISJ  s.,  2  m.  16f  s.,  2  m.  16^  s.  This  was  her  last  public  race. 
Henceforth  she  was  to  be  reserved  for  trots  against  time.  At 
Rochester  she  essayed  to  beat  St.  Julien's  record,  and  the  watch 
stopped  at  2  m.  Ill  s.;  at  Springfield  the  track  was  slow,  and  being 
off,  2  m.  19  s.  was  the  best  she  could  do.  At  Chicago,  Sept.  16, 
she  trotted  in  2  m.  11?  s.,  and  two  days  later,  at  the  same  place, 
she  surpassed  all  previous  performances,  and  closed  the  season  of 
1880  with  a  record  of  2  m.  lOf  s.  After  this  she  went  into  winter 
quarters  at  Cincinnati. 

Her  first  appearance  in  public  in  1881  was  over  the  half-mile 
track  at  Columbus,  June  30,  to  beat  Rarus'  2  m.  17 i  s.  made  there 
three  years  ago.  This  she  did  in  2  m.  13^  s.  At  Detroit,  July  4, 
she  trotted  in  2  m.  13|  s.,  and  the  week  following,  at  Pittsburgh, 
she  reduced  her  record  to  2  m.  10^  s.  At  Chicago,  July  23,  she 
trotted  in  2  m.  21^  s.,  2  m.  11^  s.,  2  m.  11  s.,  and  at  Belmont  Park, 
Philadelphia,  although  she  failed  to  reduce  her  record,  she  trotted 
the  three  best  consecutive  heats  on  record,  2  m.  12  s.,  2  m.  13i  s., 
2  m.  12^  s.,  ti'otting  the  first  half  of  the  second  jiiile  in  1  m.  3f  s. 
At  Buffalo  she  again  failed  to  reduce  her  record,  but  at  Rochester 
she  passed  under  the  wire  in  the  wonderful  time  of  2  m.  lOi  s.,  the 
fastest  time  ever  trotted  by  any  horse,  mare,  or  gelding.  At  Utica 
she  had  to  be  content  with  her  past  laurels,  and  thenceforth  she  was 
reserved  for  the  Hartford  Meeting,  where  it  was  confidently  ex- 
pected that  she  would  place  the  high-water  mark  at  2  m.  8  s.  or 
2  m.  9  s. ;  but  alas  for  human  calculations,  while  at  exercise  on 
the  day  before  that  appointed  for  the  exhibition,  she  turned  her 
foot,  spraining  her  ankle,  and  was  thrown  out  of  training  for  the 
rest  of  the  season. 

For  two  years  she  remained  in  retirement,  when  suddenly 
Jay-Eye-See,  a  little  black  gelding  by  Dictator,  son  of  Rysdyk's 
Hambletonian,  out  of  a  Pilot,  Jr.,  mare,  whose  dam  and 
grand  dam  were  thoroughbred,  took  up  the  gauntlet  she  had 
thrown  down  and  boldly  attacked  her  supremacy.  Though  small 
in  stature,  he  was  a  "  multum  in  parvo,"  and  could  get  over  the 
ground  in  a  most  surprising  manner.  His  five-year-old  record 
of  2  m.  lOf  s.  was  dangerously  near  to  the  Queen's,  and  when 
at  Providence,  K.  I.,  August   1,  1884,  he   cut  off  the  fraction 


60  A   SHORT   HISTORY   OF   THE 

and  trotted  in  2  m.  10  s.,  Maud  S.'s  supremacy  was  gone,  but  only 
for  one  day,  for  on  August  2,  at  Cleveland,  she  placed  the  mark  at 
2  m.  09f  s.,  which  Jay- Eye-See  was  never  able  to  wipe  out.  From 
1887  to  1892  the  little  black  gelding  led  a  life  of  retirement,  hav- 
ing injured  his  leg  by  stepping  upon  a  broken  bottle  in  the  pas- 
ture, and  the  world  had  almost  forgotten  his  existence,  when  his 
owner  conceived  the  idea  that  the  frictionless  glide  of  the  pacer 
would  not  aifect  his  injured  leg.  The  idea  was  at  once  put  into  prac- 
tice, and  it  required  but  two  lessons  to  show  the  little  gelding  how 
much  easier  he  could  go  at  the  new  gait.  On  August  21, 1892,  he 
paced  a  mile  at  Independence,  la.,  in  2  m.  06^  s  ,  being  the  only  horse 
who  has  a  record  at  both  gaits  of  2  m.  10s.,  or  better.  His  great 
antagonist,  Maud  S.,  had  in  the  meantime  been  sold  to  Mr.  Robert 
Bonner,  and  her  record  of  2  m.  08f  s.,  made  in  1885,  was  for  six 
years  the  acme  of  trotting  records. 

Little  in  stature,  but  a  giant  in  deeds,  Harry  Wilkes  was  per- 
haps the  stoutest  of  all  the  many  great  sons  of  George  Wilkes. 
Foaled  in  the  Centennial  year,  he  made  his  opening  bow  at  Louis- 
ville, September  13,  1882,  winning  easily  in  2  m.  29  J  s.,  2  m.  26^ 
s.,  2  m.  28  J  s.  Two  days  later  he  won  a  race  at  the  same  meeting, 
?md  a  few  days  later,  at  Lexington,  he  reduced  his  record  to  2  m. 
23is.  He  did  not  start  in  1883,  but  in  1884  he  won  sixteen  out 
of  the  nineteen  races  in  which  he  started,  and  left  off  with  a  record 
of  2m.  15s.  In  1885  he  "bullied''  the  Grand  Circuit,  winning 
ten  of  his  twelve  races,  but  did  not  reduce  his  record.  In  1886 
Harry  Wilkes  swept  the  Grand  Circuit  from  end  to  end,  lowering 
his  record  to  2  m.  14|s.  One  of  his  best  races  was  at  Belmont 
Park,  Philadelphia,  on  August  13,  where  he  defeated  the  brown 
stallion  Phallas  in  straight  heats.  Phallas  had  a  record  of  2  m. 
13|s.,  made  in  the  fourth  heat  of  a  hotly-contested  race,  and  the 
general  public  deemed  him  invincible.  But  the  little  bay  gelding 
was  all  on  edge  that  day,  and  his  quick,  high-stepping  action 
carried  him  up  that  heart-breaking  hill  in  the  third  quarter  faster 
than  any  horse  I  ever  saw.  It  was  more  like  flying  than  trotting, 
and,  gamely  as  Phallas  struggled,  he  could  not  beat  the  gay  little 
bay.  After  going  against  the  watch  at  Hartford,  he  marched  in 
triumph  across  the  continent.  At  San  Francisco,  Novembei  27, 
1886,  he  defeated  Guy  Wilkes,  Antevolo,  Charley  Hilton  and 
Arab  for  a  purse  of  $5000,  Guy  Wilkes  taking  the  third  heat  in 
2  m.  16.|  s.,  and  Harry  Wilkes  the  other  three  in  2  m.  15  j  s.,  2  m. 
16^8.,  2m.  15  s.  His  year's  work  had  been  a  grand  one — four- 
teen victories  and  but  one  defeat.  He  wintered  in  California,  and 
was  sold  for  $20,000.  On  April  2,  1887,  at  San  Francisco,  he  re- 
duced his  record  to  2  m.  13  J  s.  in  a  match  against  time.  He  then 
came  East,  but,  enervated  by  the  mild  climate  of  the  Golden  State, 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  61 

he  did  but  poorly,  and  though  he  did  not  finally  retire  from  the 
turf  until  1891,  his  last  years  were  not  uniformly  successful. 

But  now  a  new  element  was  suddenly  coming  to  the  front,  or 
rather  the  revival  of  an  old  one.  From  the  days  of  James  K. 
Polk,  Hero  and  Pocahontas,  the  speed  of  the  pacer  had  been  rec- 
ognized, but  the  gait  was  not  popular  with  the  upper  tendom  of 
sporting  circles,  and  it  was  not  until  1880  that  he  was  admitted  to 
the  Grand  Circuit.  To  be  sure  there  was  some  justification  fur 
the  prejudice.  The  old  style  pacer  had  little  knee  or  hock  action, 
and  when  his  stiff  legs  swung  back  and  forth  in  his  fast  work,  his 
body  rolled  like  a  storm-tossed  barque  in  a  choppy  sea,  and  "  the 
wiggler "  was  the  expressive  name  by  which  he  was  generally 
known.  The  gait  of  his  modern  prototype  is  entirely  different ;  he 
carries  his  body  so  motionless  that  it  requires  a  sharp  eye  to  dis- 
tinguish the  gaits,  and  as  a  roadster  he  is  fully  as  pleasant  a  driver. 
The  forerunner  of  the  new  type  of  pacers  was  Johnstone,  a  bay 
gelding  by  Joe  Bassett,  dam  by  Sweeting's  Ned  Forrest,  and  when 
at  Chicago,  October  3,  1884,  he  paced  a  mile  in  his  matchless, 
frictionless  way  of  going  in  2  m.  061-  s.,  Maud  S.'s  record  was  eclipsed. 
The  despised  pacer  had  at  last  fought  his  way  into  good  society. 

This  record  stood  for  eight  years,  when  Nancy  Hanks,  a  trotter, 
went  in  2  m.  05?  s.,  at  Independence,  la.,  August  31,  1892,  and  a 
month  later  at  Terre  Haute,  Ind  ,  in  2  m.  04  s.,  and  the  enemies 
of  the  pacer  threw  up  their  hats  in  glee  and  shouted  that  the 
pacer's  day  was  over.  The  shouting  was  short-lived,  however,  for 
on  the  very  next  day,  on  the  same  track.  Mascot,  a  bay  gelding  by 
Deceive,  son  of  Bysdyk's  Hambletonian,  won  the  first  heat  of  the 
free-for-all  race  in  2  m.  04  s.,  and  the  trotter  and  pacer  were  now 
on  equal  terms.  Though  Saladin  beat  him  the  next  year  at  Kirk- 
wood,  Del.,  in  2  m.  05|  s..  Mascot  won  many  good  races  in  that 
and  the  two  succeeding  years,  and  is  now  driven  on  the  roads  near 
New  York,  the  envy  of  every  horseman  who  knows  a  good  roadster 
when  he  sees  him. 

During  all  these  busy  years  Maud  S.  was  the  undisputed  Queen 
of  the  Turf,  but  now  her  supremacy  was  threatened  from  an  unex- 
pected quarter.  On  the  far-away  Pacific  slope,  where  the  Golden 
Gate  opens  wide  her  arms  to  receive  the  waters  of  the  Asiatic  seas. 
Gov.  Leland  Stanford,  of  transcontinental  railway  fame,  bred,  in 
1886,  a  filly,  by  Electioneer,  out  of  Warsaw,  by  Gen.  Benton,  who  had 
the  fastest  three-year-old  record,  the  fastest  four-year-old  record, 
and  the  fastest  five-year-old  record  up  to  1891,  thus  beating  Maud 
S.'s  record  by  a  half  second.  Sunol  is  a  bay  mare  of  singular  con- 
formation, standing  fully  sixteen  hands  high  at  the  coupling  and 
only  fifteen  and  a  half  at  the  withers.  She  had  a  blood-like  head, 
long  neck,  good  shoulders,  and  superb  legs  and  feet.     Her  records 


62  A    SHORT    HISTORY   OF    THE 

were  all  mr.de  on  a  kite-shaped  track,  with  all  the  assistance  that 
humau  iugenuity  could  devise  to  aid  her,  aod  though  technically 
better,  were  not  really  as  good  performances  as  those  made  by 
Maud  S.j  but  Mr.  Bonner,  jealous  of  the  new-comer,  kept  the  tele- 
graph wires  between  the  two  oceans  hot  until  she  was  safely  housed 
in  his  stable  at  Tarrytown,  on  the  Hudson.  Like  many  a  high- 
priced  purchase,  Sunol  was  by  no  means  the  treasure  he  had  anti- 
cipated. Her  disposition  was  ugly  and  treacherous,  and  she  never 
did  anything  worthy  of  her  early  reputation_  either  on  the  track 
or  at  the  stud. 

Maud  S.'s  record  was  made  on  a  regulation  track  and  to  the  old- 
fashioned  high-wheel  sulky,  and  it  still  remains  the  record  for  these 
conditions.  In  July,  1892,  the  bicycle  sulky,  with  its  pneumf.tic 
tires,  made  its  appearance  on  a  New  England  track,  and  the  old  high- 
wheeled  traps  were  doomed,  for  it  needed  but  a  single  heat  to  con- 
vince the  most  skeptical  that  the  low,  odd-looking  affairs,  which  at 
first  excited  ridicule  were  from  four  to  five  seconds  faster.  Thia 
revolution  in  sporting  vehicles  was  a  fitting  prelude  to  the  advent  of 
a  new  queen,  a  small  brown  mare  of  exquisite  form  and  beauty,  and, 
hailing  from  the  Lexington  region,  where  Lincoln's  parents  lived, 
was  called  Nancy  Hanks,  after  the  martyred  President's  mother. 
She  was  foaled  in  1886,  the  same  year  as  Sunol,  and  being  by 
Happy  Medium,  son  of  Hambletonian  and  Princess,  out  of  Nancy 
Lee  by  Dictator,  another  son  of  Hambletonian,  was  deeply  inbred 
to  the  dead  Hero  of  Chester. 

She  commenced  her  racing  career  at  Harrodsburg,  Ky.,  July  31, 
1889,  and  won  six  races  off  the  reel,  all  near  home,  losing  only 
one  heat,  and  gaining  a  three-year-old  record  of  2  m.  2-1^  s.  The 
next  year  she  won  six  races,  all  but  one  in  her  native  state,  and 
did  not  lose  a  single  heat,  and  went  into  winter  quarters  with  a 
four-year-old  record  of  2  m.  14^s.  In  1891  she  defeated  the 
beautiful  Belle  Hamlin  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  Margaret  S.  at  Pontiac, 
Mich.,  and  Allerton  and  Margaret  S.  at  Independence,  Mo  ,  and 
then,  royally  disdaining  all  contests  with  horses,  reserved  all  her 
efforts  to  subjugate  old  Father  Time,  and  her  record  as  a  five- 
year-old  was  2  m.  09  s.,  and  the  next  year  at  Terre  Haute,  Ind., 
September  28,  she  cut  the  record  down  to  2  m.  04  s.,  and,  though 
she  subsequently  made  several  efforts  to  reduce  it,  she  was  unsuc- 
cessful and  retired  from  the  turf  in  1893  a  queen,  indeed,  but 
not  the  equal  of  Maud  S.,  Goldsmith  Maid,  Flora  Temple  or 
even  dear  old  Lady  Suffolk. 

Alix,  a  dainty,  blood-like  bay  mare,  foaled  June  7,  1888,  by 
Patronage,  a  grandson  of  Woodford  Mambrino,  was  the  next 
holder  of  the  world's  record,  and  is  still  Queen  of  the  Trotting  Turf. 
She  was  a  born  trotter  and  as  a  two-year-old  started  in  ten  races, 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  63 

and  won  a  record  of  2  m.  30  s. ;  as  a  three-year-old  she  had  plenty 
of  hard  work  and  lowered  her  record  to  2  m.  16i  s. — a  truly  won- 
derful performance.  But  hard  work  was  beginning  to  tell  on  the 
young  mare,  and  in  her  four-year-old  form  she  trotted  but  one  race, 
which  she  won  easily  in  2  m.  12  J  s.,  2  m.  12  J  s.,  2  m.  13  s.,  but 
against  the  watch  she  went  in  2  m.  10  s.  As  a  five-year- old 
she  commenced  the  season  of  1893  badly,  by  losing  two  races, 
the  first  she  ever  lost,  and  then  won  a  memorable  five-heat  race  at 
Columbus,  Ohio,  the  deciding  heat  being  in  2  m.  09|s.  At  the 
great  World's  Fair  meeting  at  Chicago,  she  obtained  a  five-year-old 
record  of  2  m.  07 fs.  As  a  six-year-old  at  Terre  Haute,  Ind., 
August  17,  1894,  she  trotted  three  heats  in  2  m.  06  s.,  2  m.  061- s., 
2  m.  05i  s.,  and  at  the  same  place,  September  12,  1894,  she  equalled 
Nancy  Hanks'  record,  and  at  Galesburg,  111.,  one  week  later,  she  cut 
it  down  to  2  m.  03|  s.  Since  then  she  has  been  retired  from  the 
turf. 

For  eight  years  Smuggler's  2  m.  ISi  s.  had  stood  at  the  head  of 
the  column,  but  on  July  14,  1884,  Phallas  trotted  in  2  m.  13|s., 
and  on  September  30  of  the  same  year  Maxie  Cobb  reduced  it  to 
2  m.  131^  s.  For  five  years  this  was  the  high  water  mark,  until 
the  three-year-old  Axtell  cut  it  down  in  1889  to  2  m.  12  s.  The 
next  year  the  Maine-bred  Nelson  made  it  2  m.  10|s.,  and  in  1891 
he  made  it  2  m.  10  s.,  only  to  be  surpassed  by  Allerton,  who  trotted 
in  2  m.  09i  s.,  and  Palo  Alto,  the  California  champion,  who  equalled 
Maud  S.'s  record  by  trotting  in  2  m.  08|s.,  while  the  two-year-old 
stallion  Arion,  at  Stockton,  Cal,  November  10,  astonished  the 
world  by  trotting  in  2  m.  lOf  s.,  and  was  sold  immediately  after  for 
the  princely  sum  of  $125,000.  These  records  seemed  unassailable; 
Palo  Alto  was  dead,  and  the  season  of  1892  was  drawing  to  its 
close  with  little  prospect  of  the  appearance  of  any  champions  to 
claim  the  dead  monarch's  crown.  But  it  is  the  unexpected  that 
always  happens,  and  the  fading  year  was  destined  to  go  out  in  a 
blaze  of  glory.  Stamboul  was  a  kingly-looking  stallion,  ten  years 
old,  by  Sultan,  and  his  dam  was  the  beautiful  Fleetwing,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Rysdyk's  Hambletonian.  As  a  six-year-old  he  had  a  record 
of  2  m.  14f  s.,  which  he  reduced  the  following  year  to  2  m.  12i  s., 
and  in  1890  to  2  m.  11  s.  In  1891  he  did  not  reduce  his  record, 
but  in  1892  he  atoned  for  it  by  trotting  at  Stockton,  Cal.,  October 
22,  in  2  m.  10^  s.,  and  five  days  later  in  2  m.  08j  s.  On  Novem- 
ber 9  he  went  in  2m.  08s.,  and  two  weeks  later  in  2m.  07 is. 
Unfortunately,  while  there  could  be  no  question  as  to  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  performance,  a  technical  rule  requiring  time  perform- 
ances to  be  made  at  regular  trotting  meetings,  at  which  there  shall 
be  at  least  one  purse  or  stake  competed  for  each  day,  was  violated, 


64  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OF    THE 

and  the  sapient  magnates  of  the  American  Register  Association 
declined  to  recognize  the  record.  But  the  great  public  did,  and 
Stamboul  was  hailed  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other  as 
the  champion  stallion.  His  great  rival,  Kremlin,  was  a  four-year- 
old,  who  this  year  had  won  the  Transylvania  Stakes  at  Lexington, 
in  straight  heats,  in  2m.  lljs.,  2m.  13  s.,  2m.  llf  s.,  beating  a 
field  of  good  horses.  At  Nashville,  Tenn.,  November  5,  he  trotted 
against  time  in  2m.  OS^s.,  on  November  12  in  2m.  07|s.,  Novem- 
ber 21  in  2  m.  08^  s.,  and  November  25,  twice,  in  2  m.  09  s.,  and 
at  Montgomery,  Ala.,  November  29,  in  2  m.  09  s.,  and  on  De- 
cember 1  in  the  same  time.  The  American  Register  Association 
thereupon  declared  him  the  champion,  and  he  retired  to  the  stud 
at  the  end  of  the  year  with  the  laurels  of  victory  fresh  on  his  brow. 

The  season  of  1894  was  one  of  unusual  brilliancy.  At  Gales- 
burg,  111.,  September  20,  the  black  colt  Directly,  by  Direct,  re- 
duced the  two-year-old  record  for  pacers  to  2  m.  07f  s.,  and  at  San 
Jose,  Cal.,  eight  days  later,  the  bay  colt  Adbell,  by  Advertiser, 
placed  the  yearling  record  for  trotters  at  2  m.  23  s.  These,  with 
the  yearling  pacing  record,  made  by  Belle  Acton  the  year  previous, 
and  Arion's  two-year-old  trotting  record,  made  three  years  before, 
are  still  the  world's  records,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  days  of 
precocious  youngsters  is  past,  and  that  these  records  will  suffice  for 
years  to  come.  The  older  horses  did  equally  well.  The  black  won- 
der, Directum,  at  "one  fell  stroke"  reduced  the  four-year-old 
record,  the  race  record  and  the  stallion  records  by  trotting  in  2  m. 
05 i  s.,  and  the  dainty  Alix  cut  down  the  world's  trotting  record  to 
its  present  mark,  2  m.  03|s.,  and  at  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  September 
17,  beat  Ryland  T.,  Pixley,  Belle  Vara  and  Walter  E.  in  2  m. 
OG  s.,  2  m.  06^  s.,  2  m.  05^  s.,  the  fastest  two  consecutive  heats  and 
the  fastest  three  consecutive  heats  ever  trotted  in  a  race.  Fantasy 
trotted  in  2  m.  06  s.  and  Ralph  Wilkes  in  2  m.  06|s.  against  the 
watch,  and  Ryland  T.  in  a  race  went  in  2  m.  07|s.  The  chestnut 
mare  Nightingale,  in  a  two-mile  race,  reduced  the  world's  record  to 
4  m.  36^  s.,  and  Sallie  Simmons  and  Roseleaf  the  double-team  race 
record  to  2m.  15 J s.  Nor  were  the  pacers  "more  backward  in 
coming  forward."  Besides  Directly's  wonderful  two-year-old  record, 
Online  cut  the  four-year-old  record  to  2  m.  04  s.,  and  John  R. 
Gentry  and  Robert  J.  dominated  the  turf  with  their  records  of 
2  m.  01 2  s.  and  2  m.  02  J  s.,  respectively 

With  such  an  unbroken  series  of  victories  over  poor  old  Father 
Time,  and  with  such  trotters  as  Ralph  Wilkes,  Fantasy,  Beuzetta, 
Klamath,  Azote,  Directum,  Kentucky  Union,  Phoebe  Wilkes  and 
Athanio,  and  the  wonderful  trio  of  pacers,  Robert  J.,  John  R.  Gen- 
try and  Joe  Patchen,  waiting  the  signal  to  start,  the  wiseacres  of 
the  press  were  justified  in  anticipating  an  equally  brilliant  year  for 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  65 

1895.  But  alas!  for  human  expectations,  tlie  racing  was  good; 
with  such  horses  it  could  hardly  have  been  otherwise ;  but  Father 
Time  this  year  more  than  held  his  own.  The  sensational 
horse  of  the  year  was  unquestionably  the  bay  gelding  Azote,  by 
Whips,  out  of  Josie,  by  Whipple's  Hambletonian,  the  fastest  trot- 
ter ever  bred  on  the  Pacific  slope.  Although  born  at  Governor 
Stanford's  famous  Palo  Alto  Farm,  he  was  little  thought  of  in  that 
home  of  precocious  youngsters  and  unrealized  expectations,  and 
spent  the  early  years  of  his  life  as  a  common  hack  about  the  farm. 
Fortunately  a  "rubber"  in  the  stable  took  a  great  fancy  to  the 
horse,  and  told  the  veteran  Orrin  A.  Hickok,  on  one  of  his  visits 
of  inspection,  that  if  he  was  looking  for  a  trotter,  the  big,  over- 
grown buggy  horse  standing  by  was  the  pick  of  the  lot.  Hickok 
laughed  derisively,  but  finally  was  persuaded  to  give  him  a  chance, 
and  was  Boon  convinced  that  the  "  rubber"  was  right.  In  his  first 
season,  Azote  won  two  of  the  five  races  in  which  he  started,  and 
was  second  in  the  other  three,  acquiring  a  record  of  2  m.  14^8. 
In  1893  his  legs  failed  him,  and  he  won  but  one  of  his  five  races, 
and  Hickok,  who  could  not  forget  his  early  prejudices,  persuaded 
Governor  Stanford  to  ofi"er  him  for  sale.  That  astute  horseman, 
Monroe  Salisbury,  snapped  him  up,  and  under  his  management  he 
won  many  races  in  1894,  the  best  of  them  being  the  $5000  Transyl- 
vania Stakes  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  in  which  he  defeated  some  of  the 
best  horses  of  the  day  in  straight  heats  in  2  m.  08|  s.,  2  m.  09  J  s., 
2m.  09tS.  In  1895,  in  his  first  race,  he  reduced  his  record  to  2  m. 
071  s.,  and  then  in  quick  succession  to  2m.  06js.  and  2  m.  OSjS. 
He  defeated  Directum,  Fantasy,  Beuzetta,  Klamath,  Muta  Wilkes, 
Ryland  T.  and  Hulda,  and  did  not  lose  a  heat  to  any  of  them. 
And  as  if  this  was  not  glory  enough  for  a  despised  "  buggy  hack," 
at  Galesburg,  111.,  September  5,  he  trotted  a  mile  against  time  in 
2  m.  04f  s.,  the  first  quarter,  according  to  the  official  record,  being 
in  291  s. 

Beuzetta,  who  fairly  divided  with  Azote  the  honors  of  the  season 
of  1895,  is  a  homely-looking  mare,  but,  if  "  handsome  is  as  hand- 
some does,"  she  may  be  considered  one  of  the  handsomest  mares 
that  ever  trod  the  turf.  She  was  foaled  May  11,  1891,  and  is 
by  Onward,  son  of  the  great  George  Wilkes,  out  of  Beulah,  by 
Harold,  sire  of  Maud  S.  As  a  two-year-old  she  started  twice,  and, 
although  she  lost  both  races  through  misbehavior,  she  took  a  record 
of  2  m.  26 5  s.  In  her  three-year-old  form  she  won  all  of  the  four 
races  in  which  she  started,  one  of  which  was  the  Kentucky  Futurity, 
worth  $31,480,  in  straight  heats,  in  2  m.  16is.,  2  m.  16is.,  2  m. 
14^  s. — the  largest  sum  ever  won  by  a  trotter  in  a  single  race.  In 
1895  she  won  all  her  races  but  one.  Azote  being  her  sole  con- 
queror, and  reduced  her  record  to  2  m.  06f  s. 
5 


G6  A    SHORT    HISTORY   OP   THE 

Fantasy,  who  also  auccumbed  to  Azote's  prowess,  was  a  tall, 
slim,  loosely-made  mare  of  delicate  constitution,  but  possessing 
great  speed.  She  was  foaled  March  7,  1890,  and  was  by  Chimes, 
son  of  Electioneer,  out  of  a  grand-daughter  of  Almont.  She  was 
not  able  to  duplicate  her  record  of  2  m.  06  s.,  made  at  Terre  Haute 
the  previous  year,  and  proved  a  disappointment  the  whole  season. 
In  1896  she  came  out  strong,  and  took  her  place  at  the  head  of 
the  procession,  while  Azote  and  Beuzetta  were  decidedly  "off"  all 
that  year,  and  have  since  been  retired  to  private  life.  Her  princi- 
pal opponents  were  Kentucky  Union  (2  m.  07is.),  Onoqua  (2  m. 
08is.),  Klamath  (2  m.  07^  s.),  William  Penn  (2  m.  07^  s.),  and 
Lord  Clinton  (2  m.  08|s.) 

For  one-half  a  century  the  two-minute  horse  had  been  the  dream 
of  the  enthusiastic  horseman,  who  still  clung  to  the  fond  ideal,  not- 
withstanding the  elaborate  deductions  of  scientific  writers,  who 
plainly  proved  that  two  minutes  was  clearly  beyond  the  possibility 
of  horse  endurance.  As  gradually  both  trotting  and  pacing 
champions  drew  nearer  and  nearer  the  long-desired  mark,  the 
public  interest  in  the  relative  merits  of  the  trotting  and  pacing 
gaits  increased.  It  was  a  close  race  between  the  two  ways  of  going, 
and  much  speculation  was  indulged  in  as  to  the  probable  winner. 
The  champion  trotting  stallion  of  1893  was  Directum,  a  black 
horse  by  Director,  son  of  the  full  brother  of  the  mighty  Dexter, 
out  of  Stemwinder  by  Venture,  son  of  Belmont.  He  had  easily 
defeated  all  of  the  best  horses  of  his  day  without  once  suffering 
defeat,  and  had  wound  up  a  sensational  season  by  trotting  at  Cum- 
berland Park,  Nashville,  October  18,  in  2  m.  05is.,  in  the  third 
heat  of  a  race.  Saladin,  by  Sultan,  dam  Ella  Lewis  by  Vermont, 
was  the  champion  pacing  stallion,  with  a  record  of  2  m.  05 1  s.  He  is  a 
beautiful  seal  brown,  and  the  very  poetry  of  motion,  but  his  career 
had  been  a  checkered  one,  and  when  he  was  matched  against  Direc- 
tum at  Point  Breeze,  Philadelphia,  on  November  27,  1893,  few 
thought  he  had  the  ghost  of  a  chance.  The  day  was  cold  and 
gloomy,  the  dark,  low-hanging  clouds  portended  a  coming  storm, 
and  winter  overcoats  and  mufflers  were  more  than  comfortable.  As 
it  was  the  last  race  of  the  season,  and  Directum  was  a  drawing 
card,  the  largest  crowd  which  old  Point  Breeze  had  seen  for 
many  years  shivered  in  the  grand  stand  and  club  house  balconies, 
and  packed  the  intervening  spaces.  The  pool  box  did  a  poor 
business,  for  Directum  had  swept  everything  before  him,  and  few  ' 
dreamed  that  Saladin  would  even  make  him  extend  himself. 

Off  they  started  for  the  first  heat,  neck  and  neck  together,  but 
before  the  quarter  pole  was  reached,  in  31  is.,  Saladin  broke,  and 
Directum  obtained  a  lead  of  three  lengths,  which  he  steadily  in- 
creased, until  at  the  three-quarter  pole,  in  1  m.  37  J  s.,  it  was  six 


1! 

M  M 

fc^^i^B^^^^^^^^,  ■ 

'flUl 

p^^     f 

^ 

1 

IS 

V 

AMERICAN    TROTTING   HORSE.  67, 

lengths.  Apparently  all  was  over  but  the  shouting,  for  no  one 
believed  that  any  horse  could  close  up  such  a  gap  on  the  champion 
trotting  stallion,  a  horse  that  never  made  a  mistake  and  always 
had  a  reserve  of  speed  to  call  upon.  But  all  of  a  sudden  the  cry 
ran  through  the  crowd,  "  Look  at  Saladio  !  Look  at  Saladin  !  "  as 
the  brown  whirlwind  came  like  a  shot  from  a  gun,  and  step  by  step 
gained  on  the  too-confident  leader.  The  excitement  became 
intense,  the  bitter  cold  was  forgotten,  and  the  whole  audience  rose 
en  masse  to  cheer  the  flying  stallions.  On  they  go ;  in  vain  did 
Directum  strain  every  nerve  to  keep  the  lead  he  had  won;  grad- 
ually, but  surely,  Saladin  gained  on  him ;  the  six  lengths'  lead  was 
cut  down  to  two,  and  as  they  passed  the  ladies'  stand,  it  was  a 
length  and  a  half;  at  the  grand  stand  it  was  only  half  a  length; 
ten  yards  from  the  wire  the  two  horses  were  on  even  terms,  and  as 
they  flew  under  the  wire  with  Saladin's  beautiful  head  fairly  in 
front,  the  audience  went  frantic  with  excitement.  Such  an  electric 
burst  of  speed  had  never  been  seen  on  the  course  before;  it  was 
not  racing,  it  was  flying;  Saladin  had  paced  the  last  quarter  with- 
out a  break  or  skip  in  29  i  s. — better  than  a  two-minute  gait. 
Although  Directum  had  lost  the  first  heat,  he  was  still  the  favorite, 
as  it  was  known  that  he  was  in  the  pink  of  condition,  and  Saladin 
was  not  deemed  prepared  for  such  a  bruising  race.  The  result 
justified  these  predictions.  Saladin  struggled  gamely  in  each  of 
the  remaining  heats,  but  broke  in  each  on  the  home-stretch,  and 
Directum  won  them  by  a  length  or  more.  Still  to  have  won  one 
heat  such  as  the  first  was  glory  enough  for  the  pacer. 

But  Saladin  did  not  long  continue  the  champion  pacing  stallion. 
There  were  others  mightier  than  he  in  reserve,  and  of  these 
mighty  ones  none  are  more  popular  with  those  who  love  a  horse  for 
what  he  is  than  the  beautiful,  big  black  stallion,  Joe  Patchen. 
While  others  have  shown  greater  flights  of  speed  and  have  lowered 
technical  records,  none  have  surpassed  the  bonny  black  in  honesty, 
willingness,  courage  and  gameness.  Never  in  his  long  career  has 
he  flunked  or  shown  the  white  feather,  but,  like  old  Lady  Sufi'olk, 
he  will  do  his  level  best  as  cheerfully  at  the  end  of  the  last  heat  as 
at  the  beginning  of  the  first.  His  record  of  2  m.  01 J  s.  has  been 
surpassed  but  by  two  pacers  and  no  trotters. 

At  Belmont  Park,  Philadelphia,  September  22,  1897,  the  pacers 
John  R.  Gentry  and  Robert  J.,  went  to  wagon  in  the  remarkable 
time  of  2  m.  09  s.,  which  at  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y.,  October  8,  they 
reduced  to  2  m.  08  s. — faster  than  any  pair  of  trotters  went  to 
wagon,  or  any  pacers  but  themselves.  Both  horses  are  wonders  in 
their  way,  but  difi'erent  in  their  make-up  and  characteristics.  John 
R.  Gentry  is  a  small  bay  horse  by  a  son  of  Red  Wilkes,  out  of  a 
mare  by  Wedgewood.     He  is  a  beautiful  horse  and  phenomenally 


68  A    SHORT    HISTORY    OF   THE 

fast;  he  has  gone  to  the  half-mile  post  in  59Js.,  and  done  the 
mile  in  2  m.  OJs.,  being  by  the  records  second  only  to  the  great 
Btar  Pointer.  He  is  not  as  consistent  a  performer  as  Joe  Patchen, 
and  does  not  like  a  long-drawn  race.  Withdrawn  from  the  turf 
aAer  a  successful  career,  he  and  his  companion,  Robert  J.,  may  be 
seen  on  the  roads  near  New  York.  These  two  old  contestants  for  a 
time  travelled  together  and  took  no  man's  dust  on  the  road.  Robert 
J.  has  a  record  of  2  m.  01 J  s.,  within  J  s.  of  Joe  Patchen,  and  is  almost 
as  game.  As  a  colt  he  was  so  puny  and  insignificant,  and  withal 
so  badly  sprung  in  the  knees,  that  his  breeder,  when  retiring  from 
business,  actually  gave  him  away  rather  than  allow  him  to  be 
shown  at  the  closing-out  sale  of  his  horses.  Royally  bred,  being 
by  Hartford,  son  of  Harold,  the  sire  of  Maud  S.,  out  of  Geraldine, 
by  Jay  Gould,  son  of  Rysdyk's  Hambletonian,  by  the  logic  of  the 
pedigree-makers,  he  should  have  been  a  trotter,  but  a  pacer  he  was 
from  the  start,  and  a  great  one,  too — the  greatest  perhaps,  with 
the  exception  of  Star  Pointer,  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

When,  in  1898,  John  R.  Gentry,  who  had  commenced  the  sea- 
son with  a  record  of  2  m.  OJs.,  failed  to  reduce  it,  and  Robert  J., 
with  his  record  of  2m.  01  is.,  could  do  no  better,  the  world  settled 
down  to  the  belief  that  if  they  could  not  cross  the  fated  line,  it 
might  be  years  before  any  one  could.  But  the  fine-spun  theories 
were  to  be  upset  and  the  two-minute  horse  not  a  dream,  but  an 
accomplished  fact.  At  Readville,  Mass.,  August  28,  1897,  Star 
Pointer,  who  had  commenced  the  season  with  a  record  of  2  m.  02^ s., 
paced  a  mile  against  the  watch  in  1  m.  59is.,  and  the  following  year 
beat  two  minutes  four  times — a  feat  which  no  other  horse,  trotter 
or  pacer,  has  ever  accomplished. 

A  member  of  the  great  Tom  Hal  family — the  famous  saddle 
horse  family  of  Tennessee,  which  has  given  to  the  world  Little 
Brown  Jug  (with  his  record  of  2  m.  llf  s.),  Hal  Pointer  (2  m. 
04is.),  Hal  Dillard  (2m.  04f  s.),  Hal  Broden  (2m.  071: s.).  Laurel 
(2  m.  09is.),  and  Brown  Hal  (2  m.  12 J  s.),  the  sire  of  Star 
Pointer — he  is  the  only  one  of  the  great  pacers  who  is  not  trotting 
bred.  He  is  a  big,  well-shaped,  wine-colored  bay  horse,  and  goes 
with  a  free,  bold  stride,  and  it  is  believed  that  his  present  record 
of  1  m.  59  T  s.  is  by  no  means  the  limit  of  his  speed.  In  1897  he 
started  sixteen  times,  winning  from  Joe  Patchen  seven  times  and 
losing  twice  to  him.  He  beat  Frank  Agan  twice,  and  John  R. 
Gentry  and  Lottie  Lorraine  each  once.  His  other  contests  were 
with  Father  Time.  He  commenced  the  year  with  a  record  of  2  m. 
02is.,  which  he  equalled  once  and  beat  eight  times.  Fourteen 
times  he  beat  the  fastest  trotting  record,  and  at  Readville,  Mass., 
August  28,  he  capped  the  climax  of  his  career  by  pacing  a  mile  in 
1  m.  59  i  s.    In  1898  he  started  seven  times,  all  against  the  watch, 


AMERICAN   TROTTING   HORSE. 


69 


his  slowest  mile  being  in  2  m.  02i  s.,  and  the  fastest  1  m.  59i  s., 
the  same  as  his  previous  record.  He  beat  two  minutes  four  times 
that  year,  a  feat  which  no  other  horse  has  ever  done  once. 

"And  panting  Time  toiled  after  him  in  vain." 

The  following  brief  statistics  will  show  at  a  glance  the  wonder- 
ful improvement  in  the  speed  of  the  trotting  horse. 

In  1818  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Boston  Blue),  3  m.  00  s. 

In  1824  the  best  mile  under  saddle  (the  Albany  Pony),  2  m.  40  s. 

In  1834  the  best  mile  under  saddle  (Edwin  Forrest),  2  m.  31^  s. 

In  1835  the  best  mile  (Oneida  Chief,  ch.  g  ,  Kentucky  Hunter),  2  m.  31  s. 

In  1839  the  best  mile  under  saddle  (Dutchman),  2  m.  28  s. 

In  1845  the  best  mile  (James  K.  Polk,  ch.  g.,  pedigree  unknown),  2m.  27s. 

In  1849  the  best  mile  under  saddle  (Lady  Suffolk),  2  m.  26  s. 

In  1853  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Highland  Maid),  2  m.  27  s. 

In  1853  the  best  mile  under  saddle  (Tacony),  2  m.  25J  s. 

In  1856  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Flora  Temple),  2  m.  24i  s. 

In  1859  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Flora  Temple),  2  m.  19|  s. 

In  1859  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Flora  Temple),  2  m.  19|  s. 

In  1865  the  best  mile  (Dexter),  2  m.  18i  s. 

In  1866  the  best  mile  (Dexter).  2  m.  18  s. 

In  1867  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Dexter),  2  m.  17J  s. 

In  1879  the  best  mile  in  harness  (St.  Julien),  2  m.  12|  s. 

In  1871  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Goldsmith  Maid),  2  m.  17  s. 

In  1872  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Goldsmith  Maid),  2  m.  16|  s. 

In  1874  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Goldsmith  Maid),  2  m.  14  3. 

In  1878  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Rarus),  2  m.  13:^  s. 

In  1880  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Maud  S.),  2  m.  lOJ  s. 

In  1881  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Maud  S.),  2  m.  lOJ  a. 

In  1884  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Maud  S.),  2  m.  09|  s. 

In  1885  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Maud  S.),  2  ni.  0S|  s. 

In  1891  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Sunol),  2  m.  08^  s. 

In  1892  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Nancy  Hanks),  2  m.  04  s. 

In  1894  the  best  mile  iu  harness  (Alix),  2  m.  03S  s. 

In  1901  the  best  mile  in  harness  (Cresceus),  2  m.  02i  s. 


REDUCTION    OF   THE    PACING    RECORD. 


Drover,  b.  g., 
Fanny  Ellsler,  gr.  m., 
Unknown,  ch.  g., 
Pet,  rn.  g.,    . 
Pet,  rn.  g.,   . 
Pet,  rn.  g.,   . 
Pocahontas,  ch.  m., 
Sleepy  George,  b.  g., 
Sweetzer,  gr.  g.,    . 
Sleepy  Tom,  ch.  g,, 
Billy  Corbeau,  blk.  g.  ( 
Sleepy  Tom,  ch.  g.. 
Little  Brown  Jug,  br.  g 
Johnston,  b.  g.,     . 
Johnston,  b.  g.,     . 
Direct,  blk.  s., 
Hal  Pointer,  b.  g., 
Mascot,  b.  g., 


o  saddle) 


New  Jersey,  Oct.  3,  1339, 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  2,  1844, 
New  Jersey,  Aug.  2,  1844,     . 
Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  2,  1851, 
Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  9, 1852, 
Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  Sept.,  1852,    . 
Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  June  21,  1855, 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  7,  1879,     . 
Oakland,  Cal.,  Dec.  25,  1878, 
Columbus,  0.,  July  16,  1879, 

1868, 

Chicago,  111.,  July  25,  1879,  . 
Hartford,  Conn.,  Aug.  24,  1881, 
Chicago,  III.,  Oct.  9,  1883,     . 
Chicago,  HI.,  Oct.  9,  1384,     . 
Independence,  la.,  Sept.  4,  1891, 
Chicago,  HI.,  Aug.  18,  1892, 
Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  Sept.  19,  1892, 


2.28 
2.27i 
2.23 
2.21 

2.19i 

2.18i 

2.17i 

2.15i 

2.15 

2.14* 

2.14| 

2.12i 

2.1H 

2.10 

2.06i 

2.06 

2.05i 

2.04 


70  A    SHORT    HISTORY   OF   THE 


Flying  Jim,  b.  g., 
Robert  J.,  b.  g,,  . 
Robert  J.,  b.  g.,  . 
Robert  J.,  b,  g.,  . 
John  R.  Gentry,  b.  s.,  . 
John  R.  Gentry,  b.  s.,  . 
Star  Pointer,  b.  s.. 


Chicago,  111.,  Sept.  15,  1893,  .  2.04 

Fort  Wayne,  IncL,  Aug.  31,  1894,  2.08| 

Indianapolis,  Ind.,  Sept.  5,  1894, .  2  03.J 

Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  Sept.  14,  1894,  2.0 1^ 

Glens  Falls,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  10,  1896,  2.01.^ 

Portland,  Me.,  Sept.  24,  1896,        .  2.00^ 

Readville,  Mass.,  Aug.  28,  1897.   .  1.59i 


Since  the  establishment  of  trotting  as  a  national  sport  there  have 
been  only  eight  horses  that  have  been  recognized  as  kings  and 
queens  of  the  trotting  turf — whose  names  have  been  familiar  as 
household  words  even  to  those  who  never  set  foot  on  a  race-track 
or  read  the  sporting  columns  of  the  newspaper,  viz.,  Lady  Sufifolk, 
Flora  Temple,  Dexter,  Goldsmith  Maid,  Rarus,  Maud  S.,  Nancy 
Hanks  and  Star  Pointer,  a  brilliant  octave,  the  mention  of  whose 
names  spans  the  memories  of  half  a  century  and  links  the  recollec- 
tions of  the  veteran  raconteur  to  the  present  day.  There  have 
been  other  brilliant  performers  who  have  reduced  records  and  won 
renown,  but  only  these  eight  have  reigned  in  the  public  heart.  Of 
all  the  brilliant  coterie,  no  name  is  even  now  mentioned  with 
greater  respect  than  Lady  Suffi^lk,  and  the  three  next  greatest 
favorites  have  been  her  successors  in  the  order  named.  Why  this 
should  be  so  it  is  not  easy  to  say,  for  Rarus,  Maud  S.,  Nancy 
Hanks  and  Star  Pointer  were  all  consistent  performers,  and  Maud 
S.,  in  addition,  was  almost  as  lovable  as  dear  old  Lady  Suffolk. 
The  broadening  out  of  the  circuit  and  the  multitude  of  horses  on 
the  turf  may  account  for  this  fact,  on  the  principle  that  it  is  easier 
to  be  the  great  man  of  a  village  than  of  the  large  city,  and  that  the 
tracks  around  New  York  and  Philadelphia  no  longer  hold  the 
prominence  that  they  once  possessed. 

When  it  is  considered  that  by  fir  the  greater  portion  of  the 
best  bred  colts  are  kept  for  driving  purposes  or  the  stud,  and  that 
very  few  even  of  the  most  promising  trotters  are  kept  long  on  the 
turf,  the  enormous  increase  in  the  number  of  fast  horses  America 
is  annually  producing  is  still  more  marked.  But  with  all  this  the 
demand  for  fast  driving  horses  has  been  so  great  that  the  supply  is 
not  equal  to  the  demand,  and  the  increase  in  prices  has  been  even 
proportionately  greater. 

The  money  invested  in  horseflesh  for  road  purposes  only  may  be 
judged  by  the  amount  spent  by  the  late  Mr.  Robert  Bonner,  a  gentle- 
man who  never  permitted  any  of  his  horses  to  trot  for  money,  but 
kept  them  solely  for  his  own  driving.  For  Pocahontas  Mr.  Bonner 
gave  $35,000  and  another  horse;  Rarus  cost  him  $36,000;  for 
Dexter  he  paid  $33,000;  Edward  Everett,  $20,000;  Startle, 
$20,000;  Edwin  Forrest,  $16,000;  Lady  Stout,  $15,000;  Grafton, 
$15,000;  Bruno,  $15,000;  the  Auburn  horse,  $13,000  ;  Wellesley 
Boy,  $12,000;  Joe  Elliott,  $10,000;  Maud  Macy,  $10,000;  Mam- 
brino  Bertie,  $10,000  ;  Dick  Jamison,  $10,000  ;  Maybird,  $9500; 


AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE.  71 

Lantern  and  Light,  $9000;  Music,  $8000;  three  full  sisters  to 
Dexter,  $6500 ;  Molsey,  ^$6000 ;  Peerless,  $5500 ;  Lady  Palmer, 
$5000 ;  Prince  Imperial,  son  of  the  famous  Flora  Temple,  $5000 ; 
Flatbush  Maid,  $4000 ;  Eric,  $4000 ;  John  Taylor,  $3500  ;  Lady 
Woodruff,  $3000;  Centennial,  $3000;  Lucy  Cuyler,  $3000; 
Walton,  $3000;  the  Canada  roan  mare,  $3000;  Keen  Jim,  $2800; 
Major  Morton,  $2500;  the  Carpenter  horse,  $2200;  the  Boston 
gray  team,  $2000 ;  Elsie  Venner,  $2000  ;  Ada  Duroc,  $2000  ;  Ella 
Sherwood,  $1600;  Hebe,  Grafton's  dam,  $1500;  Carl  Burr, 
$1200  ;  Malice,  $1200 ;  Honest  Peter,  $1200  ;  dam  of  the  Morse 
colt,  $1200 ;  Uncle  Sim^  $1000  ;  dam  of  Clara  G.,  $1000  ;  Princess, 
$1000.  The  list  of  itself  amounts  to  $377,700.  But  in  addition 
to  those  mentioned  Mr.  Bonner  has  a  large  number  of  fashionably 
bred  brood  mares,  and  several  young  mares  and  geldings  of  great 
speed  that  he  purchased  at  prices  ranging  below  $1000. 

That  the  trotting  turf  has  been  of  inestimable  benefit  to  the 
great  breeding  interests  of  the  country  cannot  be  denied.  It  has 
already  added  millions  of  dollars  to  the  material  wealth  of  the 
country,  and  if  the  exportation  of  American  horses  to  Europe  in- 
creases as  rapidly  in  the  next  few  years  as  it  has  done  during  the 
year  now  fast  drawing  to  a  close,  the  raising  of  horses  will  be 
among  the  most  important  of  American  industries.  But  there  is 
almost  always  a  dark  side  to  every  picture. 

Up  to  1870  there  had  been  no  co-operation  between  the  man- 
agement of  the  different  trotting  courses  of  the  United  States.  A 
course  might  rule  a  driver  or  owner  off  its  track  for  a  palpabb 
fraud,  but  the  punishment  virtually  amounted  to  nothing,  as  he 
could  immediately  go  to  another  course  on  the  same  footing  as  the 
honestest  man  there.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  under  this  want  of 
system  fraud  oftentimes  ruled  with  a  high  hand,  and  when  exposed 
laughed  at  those  who  had  at  heart  the  best  interests  of  the  turf? 

It  became  evident  that  some  plan  must  be  devised  to  check  the 
growing  flood  of  corruption  which  threatened  to  engulf  the  trotting 
turf,  and  a  call  was  issued  to  the  different  trotting  associations  of 
the  United  States  to  send  delegates  to  a  convention  to  be  held  in 
New  York  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  the  trotting  turf.  The 
convention  met  in  February,  1870,  and  fonnally  organized  the 
''  National  Association  for  the  Promotion  of  the  Interests  of  the 
American  Trotting  Turf"  Amasa  Sprague,  the  great  Rhode  Island 
manufacturer,  was  elected  president  of  the  association,  rules  for  the 
management  of  all  the  tracks  belonging  to  the  association  were 
adopted,  and  a  board  of  appeals  constituted,  to  whom  all  disputes 
and  doubtful  questions  were  to  be  referred.  This  organization  still 
exists,  and  its  influence  for  good  has  been  immense.  Nearly  all 
the  principal  tracks  in  the  country  belong  to  it  and  act  together  in 
perfect  harmony.     And  now  if  any  one  is  ruled  off  a  track  the 


72  THE   AMERICAN    TROTTING    HORSE. 

punishment  is  by  no  means  a  light  one,  for  expulsion  from  one 
track  means  expulsion  from  all. 

The  future  of  the  trotting  turf  is  fall  of  bright  omens.  The 
clouds  of  prejudice  and  suspicion,  which  so  long  overhung  it,  are 
drifting  rnpidly  away,  and  many  of  our  leading  scholars  and  thinkers 
are  beginning  to  see  that  the  turf  is  not  as  bad  as  it  has  been 
depicted.  In  a  recent  address  President  Clark,  of  Amherst  College, 
makes  the  following  sensible  remarks  :  "  With  suitable  preparation 
and  management,  not  only  does  a  healthy  horse  suflfer  no  distress 
from  trotting  a  moderate  distance  at  the  top  of  his  speed,  but  enjoys 
it  as  highly  as  his  driver.  The  match  trotter  is  peculiarly  gifted 
with  powers  of  locomotion,  and  his  wonderful  mechanism  can  only 
be  appreciated  when  in  full  operation.  To  most  persons  a  closely- 
contested  trot  is  a  beautiful  and  attractive  spectacle,  and  experience 
proves  that  nothing  affords  a^-more  delightful  or  harmless  amuse- 
ment for  the  people,  provided  the  surroundings  and  associations 
are  o'  the  proper  kind.  The  usual  accompaniments  of  the  race- 
course— quarrelling,  profanity,  intoxication,  gambling,  and  public 
betting — may  and  should  always  be  everywhere  forbidden  and  pre- 
vented. The  morals  of  the  community  are  of  more  consequence 
than  the  breeds  of  horses.  There  is  no  more  occasion  for  immor- 
ality in  connection  with  a  trotting  match,  than  in  connection  with 
an  exhibition  of  skill  and  swiftness  in  skating.^' 

But  will  these  bright  omens  be  fulfilled  ?  Who  can  tell  ?  One 
thing  is  certain  :  the  fate  of  the  turf  rests  not  with  its  enemies,  but 
its  friends.  The  outrageous  Edwin  Forrest  case  at  Utica,  in  1878, 
inflicted  a  far  deadlier  wound  than  bigoted  opposition  or  rancorous 
diatribe  could  possibly  have  done,  and  if  the  races  are  to  be  decided 
in  the  pool-box  and  not  upon  the  track,  if  horses  are  to  be  pulled  in 
order  to  save  records,  if  drivers  are  allowed  to  form  corrupt  com- 
binations, and  the  interests  of  the  owners  are  treated  as  naught,  the 
turf  will  sink  to  a  lower  condition  than  it  was  before  the  National 
Association  was  formed.  But  if  the  reform  movement  which  was 
then  inaugurated  is  carried  on  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  begun ; 
if  fraud,  when  exposed,  is  rigorously  punished,  no  matter  who  may 
be  the  sufferer;  if  the  owners  and  breeders  come  to  the  front  and 
the  gamblers  are  sent  to  the  rear,  then  shall  the  trotting  turf  become 
a  blessing  and  not  a  curse,  and  when  hereafter  the  foreigner  visiting 
these  shores  shall  ask  to  see  the  productions  of  American  genius 
and  enterprise,  he  shall  behold  none  more  truly  characteristic,  none 
more  worthy  of  his  admiration,  than  the  Trotting  Horse  of  America- 


THE  AMERICAN  TROTTING  TURF  IN 
1899  AND  1900. 

BY    A.    M.    GILLAM. 


Many  good  trotters  were  out  in  1899.  The  Abbot,  2.06i ;  Tom- 
my Britton,  2.08;  Cresceus,  2.07i  ;  Elloree,  2.08^;  Peter  the 
Great,  2.07i;  Bingen,  2.06^;  Lord  Vincent,  2.08f;  Kingmond, 
2.09,  and  Boralma,  2.11^,  were  among  the  most  talked  of  during 
the  season,  the  latter  owing  to  his  victory  in  the  $16,000  Kentucky 
Futurity  stakes ;  but  not  one  was  able  to  come  within  dangerous 
hailing  distance  of  the  world's  record,  held  by  Alix  at  2.03|.  The 
pacers  of  1899  were  a  speedy  lot,  and  Lady  of  the  Manor,  a  five-year- 
old  chestnut  mare  by  Mambrino  King,  by  winning  a  heat  in  2.04f 
at  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y.,  August  18,  beat  all  records  for  pacing  mares, 
being  the  first  mare  to  beat  2.05.  A  mile  in  2.03}  to  wagon,  by 
the  eight-year-old  bay  gelding  Bumps,  by  Baron  Wilkes,  was  one  of 
the  features  of  the  season,  and  two  other  pacers.  Anaconda,  by 
Knight,  and  Searchlight,  by  Dark  Night,  won  heats  in  contested 
races  in  2.03i. 

Two  trotters  stood  out  among  all  the  others  in  1900.  These 
were  The  Abbot  and  Cresceus.  The  Abbot  lowered  the  world's 
record  that  had  stood  for  six  years — the  2.03|,  made  by  Alix  at 
Galesburg,  111.,  in  1894 — to  2.031^,  and  Cresceus  lowered  the  trotting 
stallion  record  from  2.05i  (Directum's,  made  in  1893)  to  2.04  flat. 
Both  of  these  supreme  efforts  were  made  in  trials  against  the  watch; 
but  both  of  these  trotters  also  established,  beyond  a  doubt,  the  fact 
that  they  were  game  race  horses,  each  having  gone  through  hard 
campaigns,  in  which  they  met  the  best  horses  on  the  turf.  The 
Abbot  broke  the  record  at  Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  September  25,  when 
he  trotted  the  first  quarter  in  31  f  seconds;  reached  the  half-mile 
pole  in  1.02i;  the  three-quarters  in  1.31 1,  and  finished  his  won- 
derful mile  in  2.03i.  The  third  quarter  was  trotted  in  29^ 
seconds,  or  better  than  a  2-minute  gait;  while  the  middle  half  was 
trotted  in  one  minute  flat.  It  was  The  Abbot's  sixth  attempt  of  the 
season  to  beat  the  record,  he  having  been  withdrawn  from  the  turf 

73 


74  THE   AMERICAN    TROTTING   TURF 

by  his  breeder  and  owner,  Mr.  C.  J.  Hamlin,  of  Buifalo,  for  this 
purpose.  He  started  out  his  1900  campaign  with  a  mile  in  2.07, 
at  Detroit,  on  July  19.  At  Readville,  Mass.,  August  22,  he  trotted 
in  2.05|.  At  Providence,  R.  I.,  August  30,  he  went  in  2.04f.  At 
Hartford,  Conn.,  September  7,  he  did  his  mile  in  2.05^,  and  on 
the  new  track  of  the  Empire  City  Club  at  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  he 
trotted  in  2.04.  The  gelding  was  then  taken  to  Lexington,  Ky., 
and,  while  his  time-trial  failed  to  come  off,  he  worked  out  a  mile  to 
wagon  one  morning  in  2.03^,  timed  by  a  great  number  of  disinter- 
ested, but  experienced  horsemen.  The  fact  that  a  trotter  could  pull 
four  wheels  in  time  that  was  better  than  the  world's  record  to  a 
pneumatic-tired  sulky,  weighing  less  than  sixty  pounds,  demonstrated, 
beyond  a  doubt,  that  the  gelding  could  beat  the  time  made  by  Alix, 
and  so  he  was  sent  to  the  track  where  the  mare  made  her  mark,  and 
there,  on  September  25,  he  trotted  the  fastest  mile  ever  made  in 
harness.  The  Abbot  was  then  seven  years  old,  and  had  been  on  the 
turf  four  years,  having  won  23  of  the  30  races  in  which  he  had  started, 
besides  twice  finishing  second  and  once  third.  In  his  turf  career 
The  Abbot  four  times  finished  behind  the  money,  and  he  was  twice 
distanced.  He  trotted  80  heats  in  2.20  or  better,  44  of  which  were 
in  2,10  or  better.  The  Abbot  was  foaled  July  20,  1893.  He  is  a 
bay  gelding,  by  Chimes,  he  by  Electioneer,  out  of  Nettie  King,  by 
Mambrino  King.  He  is  below  medium  size,  standing  15  hands 
1^  inches  high,  but  is  every  inch  a  racing  machine.  He  cannot  be 
styled  a  handsome  horse,  but  is  thoroughly  impressive,  and  no  horse- 
man can  see  him  without  being  attracted.  His  first  start,  as  a 
four-year-old,  was  in  the  Detroit  $10,000  Merchants  and  Manufac- 
turers' stakes,  in  which  he  took  second  money,  in  a  field  of  seven- 
teen starters,  and  he- won  the  fastest  heat  of  the  race,  2.11^.  In 
addition  to  the  world's  record  for  trotters.  The  Abbot  holds  the  best 
record  to  wagon — 2.05^,  made  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  September  7, 
1900.  His  world's  record  is  also  the  best  for  a  gelding.  When 
ofi"ered  for  sale  the  winter  after  he  became  champion,  The  Abbot 
brought  $26,000,  and  was  knocked  down  to  the  bid  of  John  J. 
Scannell.  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Ed.  F.  Geers,  who  trained  The  Abbot  and  has  driven  him 
in  all  of  his  races,  is  better  qualified  to  speak  of  the  qualities  of  the 
champion  trotter  than  any  other  man.  Geers  devotes  a  full  chap- 
ter to  the  gelding  in  his  book,  "Ed.  Geers'  Experience  with  Trot- 
ters and  Pacers,"  in  the  course  of  which  he  says: 

"  The  world's  champion.  The  Abbot,  was  foaled  July  20,  1893 ; 
sired  by  Chimes,  dam  Nettie  King,  record  2.201,  by  Mambrino 
King;  second  dam  Nettie  Murphy,  by  Hamlin's  Patchen;  third 
dam  by  a  son  of  Kentucky  Whip — thoroughbred.  He  is  a  dark 
bay  gelding,  15  J  hands  high,  left  foot  white,  and  in  ordinary  flesh 


IN  1899  AND  1900.  75 

weighs  about  1050  pounds.  Pie  has  an  intelligent-looking  head, 
and  his  general  conformation  is  smooth ;  while  his  legs  are  not 
unusually  heavy,  they  are  well  formed,  and  his  feet  are  perfect. 
Taken  as  a  whole,  he  comes  about  as  near  being  an  ideal-looking 
race  horse  of  the  modern  school  as  is  often  seen.  I  first  commenced 
work  with  him  in  the  fall  of  18j6,  when  he  was  three  years  old. 
At  that  time  he  was  rough-gaited  and  inclined  to  amble  and  mix 
his  gaits.  I  experimented  with  him  for  some  time  before  he  con- 
vinced me  that  he  possessed  material  sufficiently  good  to  be  eligible 
to  start  in  the  Grand  Circuit.  I  finally  shod  him  with  eleven-ounce 
shoes  in  front  and  added  three-ounce  toe- weights,  and  put  a  square- 
toed  shoe  on  the  left  front  foot  and  the  right  hind  foot,  and  made 
the  shoe  on  the  left  hind  foot  full  at  the  toe  and  a  trifle  longer 
than  the  shoe  on  the  other  hind  foot,  and,  shod  in  this  way,  he 
would  trot  square  after  the  preliminary  amble  in  which  he  would 
usually  indulge  when  first  started — a  habit  he  has  not  yet  entirely 
forsaken.  His  first  start  was  at  Detroit,  July  13, 1897,  in  the  M. 
and  M.  stake,  in  which  he  won  the  second  heat  in  2.11^,  the  fastest 
heat  of  the  race,  and  finished  in  fourth  place.  He  started  a  week 
later  at  the  same  meeting  in  the  2.20  class,  and  was  unplaced.  But 
at  Cleveland,  the  next  week,  he  won  the  2.18  class,  in  straight  heats, 
in  2.121,  2.1]  J  and  2.14i.  At  Fort  Wayne  he  won  the  first  two 
heats  in  2.13^  and  2.1 3i,  was  third  in  the  third  heat,  and  dis- 
tanced in  the  fourth.  At  the  August  meeting,  at  Readville,  he 
won,  in  straight  heats,  in  2.14|,  2.13  and  2.14i.  He  also  won  at 
Hartford,  in  straight  heats,  in  2.15,  2.16i  and  2.16J.  At  Louis- 
ville he  won  the  first  heat  in  2.13,  was  second  in  the  second  and 
third  heats,  and  distanced  in  the  fourth.  At  Lexington  he  won 
the  second,  third  and  fourth  heats,  in  2.13,  2.15J  and  2.15f .  At 
the  September  meeting,  at  Readville,  he  again  won,  in  straight 
heats,  in  2.15,  2.13^  and  2.13  J.  At  Portland  he  won  the  first,  second 
and  fourth  heats,  in  2.18i,  2.13^-  and  2.15^ — making  for  his  first 
season  the  following  record  :  Six  times  first,  fourth  once  and  un- 
placed three  times.  His  first  start  in  1898  was  at  Hartford,  July 
4,  where  he  won  a  three-heat  race  to  wagon  in  2.14  and  2.12i; 
his  record  in  the  second  heat  being  the  world's  race  record  to 
wagon.  He  next  started  at  Detroit  in  the  2.10  class,  which  he 
won,  in  straight  heats,  in  2  12J,  2.12  and  2.08|.  In  the  same 
class,  at  Cleveland,  the  next  week,  he  met  and  defeated  Eagle 
Flannigan,  Pilot  Boy,  Don  Cupid  and  Rilma,  in  straight  heats,  in 
2.08j,  2.09i  and  2.09i.  He  won  the  second  and  third  heats  at 
Columbus  in  2.08t  and  2.08J,  and  finished  in  second  place  in  the 
race.  He  won  the  first  two  heats  at  Glens  Falls  in  2.12i  and 
2.11  J,  and  finished  in  second  place.  At  Hartford  he  won  the  first, 
fourth  and  fifth  heats,  in  2.1U,  2.10^   and  2.09|.    He  won  at 


76  THE    AMERICAN    TROTTING    TURF 

Fort  Erie,  in  straight  heats,  ia  2.12},  2.14^  and  2.13.  At  Port- 
land he  finished  in  third  place.  At  the  fall  meeting,  at  Readvillc, 
he  won,  in  straight  heats,  in  2.08|^,  2.09}  and  2.08|.  He  closed 
the  season  at  Lexington,  where  he  won,  in  straight  heats,  in  2.15^, 
2.08  and  2.08};  his  record  for  the  second  racing  season  being 
seven  times  first,  twice  second  and  third  once,  and  retiring  in  his  five- 
year-old  form  with  a  race  record  of  2.08.  He  improved  all  during 
the  season.  I  raced  him  that  season  shod  with  ten-and-a-half 
ounce  shoes  in  front  and  five-ounce  shoes  behind,  and  since  then 
he  has  worn  nine-ounce  shoes  in  front.  He  developed  speed  so 
rapidly  and  showed  all  the  elements  of  a  first-class  race  horse  so 
plainly  that,  before  the  season  was  through,  I  was  convinced  he 
would  be  invincible  in  the  free-for-all  class  whenever  I  should  deem 
it  advisable  to  introduce  him  to  that  select  company.  He  started 
the  campaign  of  1899  at  Detroit,  July  20,  in  the  2.08  class, 
where  he  won  the  first,  third  and  fourth  heats,  in  2.07  J,  2.09  and 
2.10|.  In  the  same  class,  at  Cleveland,  the  next  week,  he  met 
and  defeated  Eagle  Flannigan,  Kentucky  Union,  Mattie  Patterson 
and  John  Nolan,  in  straight  heats,  in  2.08|,  2.08J  and  2.08|. 
He  won  in  the  same  class  at  Columbus,  in  straight  heats,  in  2.09| , 
2.07}  and  2.07^.  His  first  start  in  the  free-for-all  class  was  at 
Fort  Erie,  August  7,  1899,  which  he  won,  in  straight  heats,  in  2.08, 
2.09J  and  2.i0J.  In  the  free-for-all  at  Glens  Falls  he  defeated 
Bingen,  Monterey,  Kentucky  Union,  Directum  Kelly  and  John 
Nolan,  winning  the  first,  third  and  fourth  heats,  in  2.09,  2.09f  and 
2.08f.  He  won  in  the  same  class  at  Hartford,  in  straight  heats,  in 
2.08},  2.081  and  2.07f .  He  repeated  this  performance  at  Provi- 
dence by  winning  two  straight  heats  in  a  free-for-all  three-heat  race 
in  2.08}  and  2.06f.  At  New  York  he  started  against  John  Nolan, 
in  a  free-for-all  three-heat  race,  and  won,  in  straight  heats,  in  2.09 1 
and  2.06}.  He  started  at  Providence  in  the  free-for-all,  and  had 
Bingen  as  his  only  competitor,  whom  he  defeated,  in  straight  heats, 
in  2.091,  2.09J  and  2.06}.  He  closed  the  season's  campaign  at 
Lexington,  where  he  defeated  Bingen  and  Cresceus,  winning  the 
third,  fourth  and  fifth  heats  in  2.071,  2.08}  and  2.10};  Bingen 
winning  the  first  two  heats  in  2.07}  and  2.09 — his  record  for  the 
season  being  ten  races  won  and  not  meeting  a  single  defeat.  No 
other  horse,  living  or  dead,  ever  made  such  a  record  as  this.  In 
a  total  of  thirty  races,  embracing  all  the  races  in  which  he  has  ever 
started,  he  was  first  in  twenty-three,  second  in  two,  third  in  one, 
fourth  in  one,  and  unplaced  in  three.  In  the  thirty  races  in  which 
he  started,  he  won  seventy-six  heats,  all  below  2.20;  sixty-nine  of 
these  heats  were  better  than  2.15,  and  thirty-eight  were  better 
than  2.10.  In  1900  there  was  no  free-for-all  class  in  the  Grand 
Circuit,  and,  believing  he  had  the  ability  to  trot  a  faster  mile  than 


IN  1899  AND  1900.  77 

any  horse  had  ever  yet  done,  I  took  him  along  with  my  racing 
stable  and  gave  exhibitions  at  many  of  the  large  meetings.  I  first 
started  him  at  Detroit,  and  he  trotted  a  mile  in  2.07.  Readville 
next  engaged  his  attention,  and  he  there  trotted  a  mile  in  2.05f . 
The  next  trial  was  at  Providence,  and  here  the  time  was  2.04f . 
When  Hartford  was  reached  the  rnce  record  to  wagon  was  2.12^, 
which  he  made  on  this  track  in  1898,  and  the  trial  record  to  wagon 
was  2.09J,  held  by  Lucille.  I  therefore  determined  to  try  and 
crown  him  as  king  in  front  of  this  vehicle,  and  he  easily  demol- 
ished all  previous  records  by  drawing  a  wagon  a  full  mile  in  the 
phenomenal  time  of  2.052.  I  next  started  him  against  the  Sickle 
Bearer,  at  New  York,  where  he  trotted  to  a  record  of  2.04;  and, 
when  Terre  Haute  was  reached  in  the  fall,  all  the  conditions  were 
favorable  for  a  fast  mile,  and  I  there  drove  him  a  mile  in  2.03^, 
and  thereby  dethroned  Alix  as  queen  of  the  trotting  world.  The 
fractional  parts  of  this  record-breaking  mile  were  made  as  follows, 
viz. :  First  quarter  in  31  f  seconds,  second  quarter  in  30  i  seconds, 
third  quarter  in  29  J  seconds,  fourth  quarter  in  31  i  seconds,  and 
the  mile  in  2.03^.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  middle  half  of  this 
mile  was  trotted  in  exactly  one  minute,  which  is  much  faster  than 
any  of  his  predecessors  ever  trotted  this  particular  part  of  the  mile, 
and  that,  while  several  other  champions  have  surpassed  his  time  in 
the  first  quarter,  no  one  has  ever  approached  the  speed  he  showed 
in  the  third  quarter.  It  will  also  be  observed  that  in  the  five  starts 
he  made  against  time  in  harness,  he  improved  at  every  trial,  from 
2.07  at  Detroit  to  2.03i  at  Terre  Haute.  The  gait  of  The  Abbot, 
when  at  full  speed,  approaches  perfection  as  nearly  as  we  are  likely 
to  see  in  any  horse  for  some  time.  There  is  just  enough,  but  not 
too  much,  knee  or  hock  action;  his  stride  is  even,  fast  and  friction- 
less,  with  no  false  motions  or  waste  of  power.  He  has  constantly 
improved  in  every  race  and  every  trial  since  the  commencement  of 
his  career,  and  as  he  is  now  only  eight  years,  perfectly  sound,  and 
without  a  blemish  of  any  kind,  I  can  see  no  reason  why,  if  he  does 
not  go  wrong  in  some  way,  he  should  not  still  further  reduce  his 
record.  That  a  horse  will  trot  a  mile  in  harness  in  two  minutes  in 
the  near  future  does  not,  in  my  judgment,  admit  of  a  doubt. 
Whether  any  of  the  horses  I  have  mentiored  will  be  the  first  to 
accomplish  this  much-desired  result,  time  will  soon  demonstrate." 

Cresceus,  the  champion  trotting  stallion,  was  bred,  broken, 
trained  and  driven  in  all  his  races  by  his  owner,  Mr.  George  H. 
Ketchum  of  Toledo,  Ohio.  He  was  sired  by  Robert  McGregor, 
he  by  Major  Edsall,  and  his  dam  was  Mabel  by  Mambrino  Howard. 
He  was  six  years  old  when  he  made  his  record  of  2.04  and  had 
been  in  training  since  he  was  two  years  old.  In  his  first  four 
years   on   the  turf  he  started  in  33  races;  won  19;  took  second 


78  THE    AMERICAN    TROTTING   TURF 

money  in  9 ;  third  in  4 ;  fifth  in  1 ;  never  having  been  unplaced. 
He  won  53  of  the  112  heats  in  which  he  started,  21  of  which 
were  in  2.10  or  better;  40  in  2.15  or  better  and  51  in  2.30  or 
better.  In  addition  to  these  races  he  started  seven  times  against 
the  watch,  four  times  trotting  in  better  than  2.06,  2.04,  2.04^, 
2.041,  2.05i. 

In  appearance  Cresceus  (a  name  taken  from  Roman  history) 
shows  little  resemblance  to  his  sire,  Robert  McGregor,  "  the 
Monarch  of  the  home  stretch."  He  is  chestnut  in  color,  but  one 
of  those  chestnuts  not  generally  looked  upon  with  favor  by  horse- 
men. In  fact  he  narrowly  escapes  being  called  a  dun,  while  his 
mane  and  tail  fade  to  a  blonde  at  their  fringes,  as  do  also  his  points. 
Cresceus  is  low  headed  and  lumbering  in  his  slow  paces,  just  the 
opposite  to  his  jaunty  sire,  but  once  he  is  aroused,  no  horse  that 
ever  fought  out  a  close  finish  has  a  more  determined  way  of  going. 
He  is  a  bulldog  trotter,  if  there  ever  was  one,  and  he  has  the  speed 
to  match  his  courage.  His  one  point  of  beauty  is  his  head. 
That  is  clean  and  bony,  with  a  good  face,  soft,  expressive  eyes  set 
well  apart;  ears  full  of  character,  and  altogether  a  head  that  would 
attract  attention  in  any  company.  He  has  tremendous  muscular 
substance,  and  the  driving  power  of  his  hind  quarters  is  something 
marvellous.  There  is  not  a  weak  spot  in  his  entire  make-up,  and 
yet  he  has  many  peculiarities  in  his  way  of  going  that  makes  him 
once  seen  always  remembered.  At  speed  his  head  drops  almost  to 
the  level  of  his  withers,  and  while  his  action  seems  low  he  can  trot 
on  any  sort  of  a  track,  proving  that  it  is  high  enough  for  rough 
going.  His  action  is  very  close  forward,  and  yet  the  fold  of  his 
knee  does  not  carry  him  near  his  elbows.  He  pounds  terrifically, 
and  thunders  past  like  some  resistless  engine  adjusted  to  the 
nicety  of  the  daintiest  mechanism. 

His  first  start  was  as  a  two  year  old  at  Circleville,  Ohio,  July 
21,  1896,  when  he  won  in  2.37i,  2.36i,  beating  fifteen  others. 
He  started  thirteen  times  as  a  three  year  old,  winning  six  and 
losing  seven  races.  His  best  race  was  at  Readville,  Massachusetts, 
August  28,  where  he  took  the  third  heat  of  a  winning  race  for  2.20 
class  horses  in  2.11^,  after  having  won  the  first  and  second  in  2.14^, 
2.11 1.  He  started  five  times  as  a  four  year  old  and  won  but  two 
of  the  five  races,  failing  to  better  his  record.  In  1899,  as  a  five 
year  old,  Cresceus  won  four  out  of  nine  races,  and  reduced  his 
record  to  2.071  at  New  York,  on  September  4,  where  he  beat 
Charley  Herr,  Askey,  Benton  M.,  Bingen,  Oakland  Baron  and 
Dare  Devil,  in  2.101,  2.07i. 

Cresceus  won  all  four  races  in  which  he  started  in  1900 ;  put 
together  the  fastest  three-heat  race  to  the  credit  of  a  trotting 
stallion,    the    fastest  five-heat  race  to  the  credit  of   any   trotter, 


IN  1899  AND  1900. 


79 


lowered  the  trotting  stallion  record  to  2.04  flat  in  one  of  his 
seven  trials  against  time,  and  also  beat  two  half-mile  track 
records.  He  opened  the  season  by  beating  Tommy  Britton  in  a 
match  race  at  Pittsburg  on  July  4.  Time  2.10,  2.10.  At 
Cleveland,  July  23,  he  won  the  2.08  class,  beating  Grattan  Boy, 
John  Nolan,  Tommy  Britton,  Kingmond  and  Charley  Herr  in 
2.07i,  2.061 .  This  was  for  a  S1500  purse,  but  the  week  follow- 
ing, at  Columbus,  Cresceus  won  the  $5000  stallion  purse,  beating 
Grattan  Boy  and  Charley  Herr  in  2.07^,  2.06,  2.06,  the  fastest 
three  consecutive  heats  ever  trotted  by  a  stallion.  At  Chicago, 
August  11,  Cresceus  beat  Tommy  Britton  in  2.06J,  2.07^,  and 
then,  while  training  for  the  $20,000  stallion  race  at  Boston,  made 
two  starts  against  time.  At  Syracuse,  New  York,  August  29,  he 
trotted  in  2.06  J  in  an  attempt  to  beat  Directum's  stallion  record  of 
2.05i,  and  at  Hartford,  in  a  trial  against  the  same  mark,  he  won, 
doing  his  mile  in  2.04f .  The  Boston  820,000  stallion  race  was 
trotted  over  the  Readville  track,  September  27,  and  the  time — 
2.07i,  2.07i,  2.07i,  2.07^,  2.08f— set  up  a  new  record  for  a  five- 
heat  trotting  race.  Cresceus  won  the  last  three  heats  and  the 
race,  Charley  Herr  taking  the  first  two  heats.  Grattan  Boy, 
Arion,  Lord  Vincent,  Benton  M.  and  Jupe  also  started,  consti- 
tuting the  fastest  field  of  stallions  ever  seen  in  a  race.  The 
following  week,  at  Cleveland,  Cresceus  lowered  the  trotting  stallion 
record  to  2.04  flat  in  a  trial  to  beat  2.04f .  The  first  quarter  was 
trotted  in  31  seconds;  the  half  in  1.01^;  three  quarters  in  1.33, 
showing  the  last  quarter  of  this  record-breaking  mile  to  have  been 
trotted  in  31  seconds.  Cresceus  was  then  taken  to  his  home  at 
Toledo,  Ohio,  where  in  one  day,  October  13,  he  lowered  two 
world's  records  over  a  half-mile  track  by  trotting  a  mile  against 
time  in  2.09f ,  and  pulling  a  wagon  in  2.13^.  Three  days  later  he 
tried  to  still  farther  lower  his  world's  record  of  2.04  at  Terre 
Haute,  Indiana,  but  the  day  was  not  favorable,  and  the  best  he 
could  do  was  2.05i.  He  made  one  more  trial  over  the  same  track 
on  October  19,  but  fell  short  of  his  best  efi"ort  by  a  fraction  of  a 
second,  his  time  being  2.04^. 

The  wonderful  season's  work  put  in  by  this  horse  during  the 
year  1900  may  better  be  appreciated  by  the  following  table,  which 
shows  the  fractional  time  of  his  best  miles  from  Pittsburg  to 
Terre  Haute : 


i 

i 

1 

Mile 

Pittsburg,  July  4, 

:32 

1  :04 

38 

2  :10 

Pittsburg,  July  4, 

:32| 

l:03i 

36 

2:10 

Cleveland,  July  2.S, 

.         .         :3U 

1  :04 

35i 

2:07 

Cleveland,  July  23, 

:30i 

1  :02i 

34 

2  :06| 

Columbus,  August  2, 

:31 

1  :03i 

37 

2:07 

80 


THE   AMERICAN    TROTTING    TURF 


Columbus,  August  2, 
Columbus,  August  2, 
Chicago,  August  11, 
Chicago,  August  11, 
^"Syracuse,  August  29, 
*Hartford,  September  5, 
Readville,  September  27, 
Readville,  September  27, 
Readville,  September  27, 
^Cleveland,  October  6,     . 
*-Toledo,  October  13, 
*Toledo,  October  13  (to  wagon), 
*Terre  Haute,  October  16, 
*Terre  Haute,  October  19, 
*Against  time. 


32i 

1  :03i 

1  :35 

2  :06 

31 

1  :03i 

1  :33| 

2  :06 

31J 

1  :03i 

1:35 

2:06i 

31 

1  :03i 

1  :35i 

2  :07i 

31S 

1  :02f 

1  :34i 

2  :06i 

3U 

1  :02| 

l:S3i 

2:04S 

311 

1  :02| 

1:341 

2  :07i 

3U 

1  :03 

l:34| 

2:07i 

32i 

1:04 

l:36i 

2  :08i 

3U 

l:01i 

1  :33 

2:04 

33 

1  :03| 

l:37i 

2  :09| 

35^ 

1  :08 

1  :40i 

2  :13i 

301 

1  -Mi 

1  :33i 

2:05i 

301 

1  :02 

l:32i 

2:04^ 

Outside  of  The  Abbot  and  Cresceus,  Charley  Herr,  2.07,  and 
Boralma,  2.08,  were  the  most  talked-of  trotters  of  1900.  Charley 
Herr,  a  five  year  old  bay  stallion  by  Alfred  Gr.,  was  the  most 
dangerous  opponent  Cresceus  met,  and  in  the  $20,000  stallion 
race  it  was  a  close  decision  that  gave  the  third  heat  to  Cresceus, 
robbing  Charley  Herr  of  a  straight  heat  victory.  While  Charley 
Herr  won  but  eleven  of  his  first  forty-one  races,  he  got  a  piece  of 
the  money  in  twenty-five  of  the  others,  winning  forty-one  of  the 
142  heats  in  which  he  started,  thirteen  in  2.10  or  better. 

Boralma,  a  four  year  old  chestnut  gelding,  by  Boreal,  won  ten 
of  his  first  twelve  races,  including  the  famous  Transylvania  stakes 
at  Lexington,  Kentucky,  in  which  he  made  his  record.  So  good 
were  his  performances  that  his  owner,  Mr.  Thomas  W.  Lawson,  of 
Boston,  announced  his  willingness  to  match  him  against  any  trotter 
in  the  world  for  any  amount  of  money.  This  has  led  to  matches 
being  made  between  both  Boralma  and  The  Abbot  and  Boralma 
and  Charley  Herr. 

During  the  season  of  1900  seventy  heats  were  trotted  in  2.10 
or  better  in  contested  races,  in  comparison  to  which  the  wonderful 
growth  in  the  popularity  of  the  pacing  horse  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  during  the  same  season  no  less  than  333  pacing  heats  of  2.10 
or  better  were  contested.  Connor,  an  eleven  year  old  black 
gelding,  by  C.  F.  Clay,  headed  the  pacing  list  with  twenty-seven 
2.10  heats,  the  fastest  of  which  was  in  2.03i.  Prince  Alert,  a  hop- 
pled pacer,  by  Crown  Prince,  won  the  fastest  heat  of  the  year, 
going  a  mile  in  2.02  flat  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  the  last  week  of  July. 
Anaconda,  bay  gelding  by  Knight,  won  a  heat  in  2.02  J  at  Read- 
ville, and  Coney,  black  gelding  by  McKinney,  was  credited  with 
a  mile  in  2.03|. 

Quite  a  number  of  horses  have  proved  successful  at  both  the 
trotting  and  pacing  gaits,  but  Jay  Eye  See,  black  gelding  by 


IN  1899  AND  1900. 


81 


Dictator,  alone  has  beaten  2.10  at  both  ways  of  going.     The  fastest 
of  the  lot  are  as  follows : 


Trotting. 

Pacing. 

Average. 

Jay  Eye  See, 

?                         r-              T— r 

2  .10 

2  :06i 

2:084 

Heir-at-Law, 

%        .         .        • 

2  :12 

2  :05| 

2  :08i 

Ottinger, 

ii 

2  :09J 

2:1U 

2  :10§ 

King  Albert, 

2  :12i 

2:09i 

2  :11 

Direct, 

. 

2  :18i 

2:05^ 

2:12J 

SOME  USEFUL  HINTS,  SUGGESTIONS  AND  OPINIONS 
ON  TRAINING  AND  CONDITIONING. 

COMPILED   PROM    VARIOUS    SOURCES. 


"  No  man  is  fit  to  handle  colts  or  horses  unless  he  has  perfect 
control  of  his  temper,  for  you  can  do  much  more  with  coaxing  than 
you  can  with  harsh  treatment ;  for,  when  an  animal  becomes  afraid 
of  his  trainer,  he  loses  confidence  and  will  not  improve  in  that 
man's  hands.  This  applies  to  aged  horses  as  well  as  colts."— 
A.  J.  Feek. 

"  Further  than  halter-breaking  I  have  never  thought  necessary 
during  the  first  year.  The  fall  and  winter  after  weaning,  they 
should  have  all  they  will  eat,  and  on  every  dry  day  they  should  run 
out  in  the  fields  and  take  all  the  exercise  they  will;  for  plenty  of 
food  and  plenty  of  exercise  are  equally  necessary  to  accomplish  the 
best  results. 

"  There  is  no  process,  not  even  the  starving  process,  that  I  think 
more  injurious  to  the  colt  than  over-feeding,  with  little  or  no  exer- 
cise. The  legs  cannot  grow  and  develop  without  plenty  of  gallop- 
ing, and  if  well  fed  and  turned  out  in  the  fields  in  good  weather, 
they  will  run  and  play." — A.  J.  McKimmin. 

"  The  first  thing  in  training  a  horse  is  to  make  a  careful  study 
of  the  animal,  learning  all  his  peculiarities,  faults,  weaknesses, 
habits,  etc.  I  think  one  vital  mistake  made  by  men  training  horses 
is  that  they  do  not  seem  to  think  that  horses  are  made  of  flesh  and 
blood,  and  very  nearly  human  in  all  their  ways." — John  Splan. 

"Two-thirds  of  the  promising  and  fashionably-bred  colts  are 
ruined  through  mismanagement,  which  includes  over-conditioning, 
bad  shoeing,  excessive  use  of  boots,  weights  and  ointments,  which 
incite  and  weaken,  through  increased  growth,  the  hoof,  one  of  the 
most  fruitful  sources  of  malformation." — Alexander  Dunbar. 

"It  used  to  be  a  custom  to  send  a  three-month-old  colt,  half- 
halter  broken,  and  give  him  one  month  to  complete  his  education, 

83 


84  SOME    USEFUL    HINTS,    SUGGESTIONS,    ETC., 

and  return  it  fit  and  safe  for  any  use.  This  was  a  great  mistake; 
the  man  had  either  to  half  kill  the  colt  or  return  him  half  broken, 
or  perhaps  both.  It  takes  a  bright,  intelligent  boy  ten  or  fifteen 
years  to  complete  a  good  education,  and  it  can  hardly  be  called  fair 
to  expect  a  dumb  beast  to  be  fit  to  graduate  at  the  end  of  a  month. 
A  colt,  when  thoroughly  broken,  should  have  a  graceful,  easy  car- 
riage, a  pleasant  mouth,  be  obedient,  and  yield  promptly  to  every 
requirement.  He  should  go  at  his  work  cheerfully,  and  with  as 
much  apparent  pleasure  as  his  driver  takes  in  riding  after  him.  By 
such  behavior  he  would  indicate  at  once  that  he  was  an  educated 
horse,  and  not  an  abused  and  half-killed  brute.  To  take  a  green 
colt  and  return  him  in  this  condition  requires  considerable  time — 
at  least  three  months." — H.  C.  Woodnutt. 

"  The  commencement  of  Lady  Suffolk's  history  interested  those 
who  remembered  her  performances  five-and-twenty  years  before, 
and  revived  the  discussion  about  the  forcing  system  and  early 
maturity.  It  was  admitted  that  David  Bryant  trotted  the  mare 
too  much  in  her  first  season ;  but  some  still  held  that  early  ma- 
turity was  a  good  thing,  and  predicted  that  it  will  be  hereafter  one 
of  the  chief  aims  of  the  breeders.  I  am  somewhat  afraid  that  it 
will;  and  being  convinced  that  it  will  be  mischievous,  and  end  in 
the  premature  decay  of  many  good  horses,  I  have  protested  against 
it.  The  argument  is  this :  If  a  colt  can  be  made  as  good  at  three 
years  old  as  another  will  be  at  five  or  six,  there  is  a  great  saving 
of  time  and  expense.  Now,  this  is  not  the  proper  way  to  state  the 
question ;  for  a  colt  may  be  as  fast  at  three  as  another  is  at  five  or 
six,  and  still  be  an  inferior  horse ;  and  it  is  my  opinion  that  the 
method  adopted  to  make  him  at  three  equal  to  what  the  other  will 
be  at  six  is  almost  certain  to  render  him  an  inferior  animal  as  re- 
gards duration." — Hiram  Woodruff, 

"In  regard  to  colts,  I  have  previously  observed  that  the  forcing 
system  in  the  raising  of  trotters  was  not  advisable.  I  am  satisfied 
that  it  is  not  only  expense  laid  out  to  no  use,  but  for  a  purpose 
which  is  likely  to  be  mischievous.  Very  early  maturity  is  only  to 
be  attained  accompanied  with  the  liability,  the  almost  certainty,  of 
corresponding  early  decay;  and,  to  achieve  such  excellence  as  that 
to  which  Dutchman  attained,  the  trotting  horse  must  have  all  his 
powers  long  after  the  period  at  which  most  running  horses  have 
left  the  turf.  The  reason  is  obvious.  The  trotter  has  to  be  edu- 
cated up  to  his  best  and  strongest  rate,  and  the  education  takes 
many  years.  Dutchman  improved  until  he  was  ten  or  eleven  years 
old,  and  it  may  be  questioned  whether  his  very  best  capabilities 
were  ever  brought  out;  for  the  change  into  new  hands  just  when 


ON    TRAINING    AND    CONDITIONING.  85 

he  had  come  to  the  highest  pitch  that  we  know  of  was  not  alto- 
gether favorable  to  continued  advance.  Therefore,  when  a  trotting 
horse  has  attained  the  age  of  seven,  and  is  aged,  or  arrived  at 
natural  maturity,  he  has  only  just  reached  that  stage  when  we  may 
begin  to  expect  the  development  of  his  finest  powers ;  and  that  de- 
velopment, according  to  my  experience,  is  likely  to  be  gradual,  and 
to  continue  for  a  long  time.  No  doubt  many  horses  never  improve 
after  they  are  seven;  and  in  some  cases  the  speed  comes  to  them 
all  at  once,  as  the  saying  is.  In  the  former,  the  constitution, 
breeding  or  form  is  probably  defective.  A  century  of  work  would 
not  improve  some  horses.  They  get  to  their  best  early,  and  only 
because  their  best  is  very  bad." — Hiram  Woodruff. 

"  Many  trainers  ought  never  to  be  allowed  to  get  into  a  sulky  in 
possession  of  a  whip.  They  are  so  constituted  that  they  cannot 
control  their  temper,  and  they  often  whip  when  there  is  no  better 
reason  for  it  than  the  gratification  which  the  doing  so  yields  their 
ill-nature.  One  single  cut  with  the  whip  at  the  wrong  time  will 
not  be  forgotten  by  some  horses  during  a  whole  season,  and  may 
cause  the  horse  to  become  timid  and  irritable — may,  in  fact,  ulti- 
mately ruin  him — causing  him  to  prove  unreliable,  both  as  regards 
gait  and  everything  else  considered  as  exceptionally  valuable." — 
Farmers^  Home  Journal. 

"  Drivers  are  born,  not  made,  and  it  is  impossible  to  teach  a  man 
so  that  he  can  get  up  behind  a  horse  and  drive  him  well  unless  he 
has  the  natural  gift;  and  only  this,  with  experience,  makes  a  good 
driver.  You  want  a  steady,  firm  hand,  and  yet  a  light  one.  You 
want  a  firm  hand,  but  not  a  rigid,  unyielding  one,  for  a  certain 
ease  is  necessary  to  give  the  horse  confidence.  If  the  driver  be 
nervous  and  unsteady,  the  horse  will  soon  know  it,  and  his  stead- 
iness will  be  aff"ected  by  it.  Never  take  more  hold  on  the  horse 
than  is  necessary  to  give  him  confidence,  and  to  hold  him  steady 
and  safe.  A  good  driver  must  be  a  good  judge  of  pace  and  of 
distance,  cool-headed,  with  presence  of  mind,  and  able  to  take  in  a 
situation  at  a  glance  and  act  upon  it  instantly.  He  must  be  ready 
to  see  an  advantage  the  moment  it  presents  itself,  and  seize  it  the 
moment  he  sees  it.  All  this,  as  I  have  said,  cannot  be  learned; 
there  are  certain  qualities  of  the  brain  and  the  hand  that  must  in 
a  degree  be  natural  to  the  man,  though  they  may  be  perfected  by 
acquirement.  A  driver  may  be  good  when  going  at  a  2.40  gait, 
but  the  same  man  may  be  all  at  sea  when  going  at  a  2.16  gait. 
The  difi'erence  in  results  that  will  follow  a  move  at  2.40  gait  and 
that  which  may  follow  a  move  at  2.20  gait  is  marvellous." — Charles 
Marvin. 


86  SOME   USEFUL    HINTS,    SUGGESTIONS,    ETC., 

"  In  order  that  a  fast  horse  should  be  under  circumstances  to  do 
his  best,  he  should  be  as  much  at  his  ease  in  his  harness  and  gen- 
eral rig  as  possible.  If  he  is  not,  he  is  placed  at  almost  as  much 
disadvantage  as  if  sore  or  stiff,  or  suffering  from  some  bodily  ail- 
ment. You  may  see  horses  brought  out  of  the  stable  to  trot,  with 
a  very  tight  check  to  keep  their  heads  up,  and  a  tight  martingale 
to  keep  it  down.  Such  a  horse  is  in  irons;  and  when  to  this  is 
added  a  dead  drag  at  the  reins,  and  no  movement  of  the  bit  from 
end  to  end,  I  cannot  see  how  he  should  do  his  best.  People  talk 
about  a  steady,  bracing  pull;  but,  in  my  opinion,  that  is  not  the 
right  way  to  drive  a  trotter.  There  is  a  great  difference  between 
letting  go  of  your  horse's  head  and  keeping  up  one  dull,  deadening 
pull  all  the  time." — Hiram  Woodruff. 

"  Bits  are  often  kept  in  places  to  which  the  frost  penetrates  in  very 
cold  weather.  The  bits  become  frosted;  and,  without  a  thought  of 
what  he  is  doing,  the  man  claps  a  frosted  steel  bit  into  the  horse's 
mouth.  The  consequence  is  a  sore  mouth,  just  about  as  certainly  as  if 
the  bit  had  been  nearly  at  a  red  heat;  and  then  the  man  bothers  his 
brains  to  find  out  what  caused  it.  If  he  had  put  the  frozen  bit 
into  his  own  mouth,  it  would  have  brought  the  inner  skin  of  the 
lips  away  with  it,  and  then  he  would  have  felt  the  mischief.  In 
very  cold  weather,  take  your  bits  to  the  fire,  and  be  sure  that  there 
is  no  frost  in  the  steel  when  the  bit  is  placed  in  your  horse's 
mouth." — Hiram  Woodruff. 

"  My  experience  has  been  that  no  horse  can  be  successfully 
driven  with  anything  like  a  severe  bit.  I  never  saw  one  that  was 
even  broken  of  the  habit  of  pulling  in  that  way.  If  you  put  a  severe 
bit  in  the  horse's  mouth  and  pull  on  it  it  makes  the  horse  mad  and 
irritates  him ;  the  further  you  drive  him  and  the  harder  you  pull 
him,  the  more  he  will  pull  against  it.  When  I  was  a  boy,  almost  every 
trotter  I  saw  would  pull  in  a  disagreeable  manner  when  being 
driven  at  top  speed.  At  the  present  time  I  cannot  think  of  one 
horse  that  is  anything  like  first-class,  that  pulls  enough  to  make  it 
disagreeable  for  a  man  at  any  time.  A  great  many  people  think 
that  every  horse  should  be  driven  with  an  overcheck.  I  can  re- 
member when  I  had  the  same  opinion  myself.  I  am  now  satisfied 
that  it  is  a  serious  mistake.  There  are  a  great  many  horses  that 
will  not  take  kindly  to  an  overcheck,  and  if  you  insist  on  using  it  on 
them  it  will  sooner  or  later  spoil  the  horse's  disposition  to  a  great 
extent." — John  Splan. 

"The  mouth  is  now  fine  and  sensitive;  and  it  ought  to  be  kept 
so,  because  this  is  the  great  organ  of  communication  between  a 
good  driver  and  the  trotter,  when  he  is  cultivated  and  improved 


ON   TRAINING   AND    CONDITIONING.  87 

into  a  fast  horse.  What  you  want  the  trotter  to  do  when  he  is  at 
speed  is  to  be  got  into  him  through  his  mouth.  You  may  encour- 
age him  by  speaking  to  him,  or  sting  him  into  a  greater  eflfort  with 
the  whip ;  but  neither  of  these  is  half  as  good  as  the  play  upon  the 
reins,  with  which  you  let  him  know  what  you  want  through  his 
lively,  sensitive  mouth.  You  are  then  to  keep  in  constant  mind 
the  necessity  of  not  impairing  the  colt's  mouth  by  rough  handling 
of  the  reins.  If  you  pull  and  lug  at  the  bit,  the  colt,  in  his  efforts 
to  resist  what  hurts  him,  will  very  soon  pull,  too,  for  he  will  find 
out  that  this  numbs  and  deadens  the  jaws ;  but  this  is  at  the 
expense  of  ruination  to  the  mouth.  It  will  become  hard  and 
insensible;  and  the  first  and  the  largest  part  of  the  mischief  which 
goes  towards  the  making  of  a  hard  puller  is  done."  —  Hiram 
\  Woodruff. 

■ "  Checks  and  bits  have  a  good  deal  to  do  with  balancing  the 
horse,  and  the  less  restraint  or  annoyance  these  appliances  give  the 
horse  the  better.  I  like  plain  bits.  If  you  cannot  control  a  horse 
with  a  plain  bit,  you  have  a  small  chance  of  making  a  trotter  of 
him  at  all.  Such  bits  as  the  'Perfection,'  'Rockwell,'  etc.,  I  con- 
sider pernicious  contrivances.  There  are  cases  where  a  horse  has 
improved  with  a  severe  bit,  but  they  are  exceptional.  With  what 
extreme  measures  have  achieved  I  do  not  quarrel,  but  I  do  argue 
against  using  artificial  and  unusual  appliances  unnecessarily,  and 
this  applies  not  only  to  bits,  checks,  shoes,  weights,  etc.,  but  to 
everything  connected  with  training." — Charles  Marvin. 

,  "The  stallion  (Kemble  Jackson)  was  then  sent  to  me  to  be 
handled;  and,  in  order  to  prevent  him  from  throwing  down  his 
head  between  his  knees  when  he  broke,  the  well-known  Kemble- 
Jackson  check,  since  in  use  all  over  this  country,  and  introduced 
in  England  also,  was  invented.  It  answered  well  in  this  case,  and 
must  always  be  of  great  use  in  similar  ones ;  but  I  think  it  is  often 
applied  in  cases  where  it  is  not  only  unnecessary,  but  does  harm 
instead  of  good." — Hiram  Woodruff. 

"  I  would  learn  every  colt  or  horse  to  drive  with  and  without 
blinds  or  winkers." — A.  J.  Feek. 

"  A  great  deal  has  been  written  and  said  relative  to  the  use  of 
blinders.  While  the  arguments  for  their  discontinuance  are  ap- 
parently the  stronger,  I  must  acknowledge  that,  in  my  practice, 
more  horses  have  gone  better  with  than  without  them." — Joscjyh 
Cairn  Simpson. 

"  How  far  to  work  a  colt,  I  cannot  tell  you  any  more  than  I  can 
how  big  a  lump  of  chalk  is.     Colts  differ  in  size,  stamina,  disposi- 


88        SOME  USEFUL  HINTS,  SUGGESTIONS,  ETC., 

tion  and  strength.  Some  have  got  to  indulge  in  a  little  foolishness 
before  they  are  ready  to  do  right — play  with  the  birds  along  the 
fence,  or  the  shadows  of  the  poles — while  others  are  strict  business 
all  the  time.  It  is  safe  enough  to  figure  not  to  exceed  four  miles 
with  any  colt  and  not  less  than  two  and  one-half  With  the  proper 
care,  such  as  walking  and  turning  out,  colts  do  not  need  much 
jogging.  They  are  ready  to  speed  very  soon  after  getting  to  the 
track." — Thomas  J.  Dunhar. 

"I  think  it  is  a  mistake  to  jog  horses  too  far.  From  three  to 
five  miles  a  day  is  ordinarily  sufficient  for  most  horses,  except  that 
on  one  day  in  each  week  it  is  best  to  jog  seven  or  eight  miles,  so 
the  horse  will  get  a  little  leg  weary.  Some  days  three  miles  and 
some  four  and  five  miles;  but  I  do  not  believe  in  slow  jogging  for 
more  than  one  mile.  After  going  the  first  mile,  it  is  best  to  let 
them  jog  along  good  and  strong,  as  I  am  satisfied  that  from  three 
to  five  miles  stiff"  jogging  will  do  a  horse  more  good  than  twenty 
miles  at  a  slow,  poky  gait.  I  also  think  a  great  many  horses  are 
jogged  so  far  and  slow  that  it  takes  away  their  speed;  besides,  it 
gets  monotonous  to  the  horse,  and  he  does  not  take  his  work  as 
cheerfully  as  a  horse  that  is  jogged  short  and  lively." — Edward  F. 
Geers. 

"  The  object  of  the  driver  should  then  be  to  support  him  with 
as  little  pull  as  possible,  but  still  to  support  him.  The  horse  with 
a  good  mouth  will  always  feel  the  driver^s  hand ;  and,  when  the 
latter  is  as  skillful  as  he  ought  to  be  for  the  handling  of  the  first- 
rate,  fast  trotter,  he  may  play  upon  the  rein  with  a  touch  like  that 
of  a  harper  upon  the  strings,  and  the  horse  will  answer  every  touch 
with  the  music  of  the  feet  and  wheels." — -Hiram  Woodruff. 

"There  is  no  cure  for  a  pulling  horse,  however,  like  that  of  not 
pulling  against  him ;  though  it  adds  to  a  person's  steadiness  of 
nerve  to  know  that  he  has  the  appliances  to  stop  a  horse,  should 
gentleness  not  prevail.  A  horse  can  never  be  radically  cured  of 
this  propensity  to  pull,  unless  the  driver  is  determined  not  to 
gratify  the  morbid  habit,  but  to  ease  away  whenever  he  rushes  for 
the  bit,  and  teach  him  that  his  comfort  and  ease  of  going  is  de- 
pendent on  his  ceasing  to  pull.  The  celebrated  English  jockey, 
Chiffney,  wrote  a  treatise  on  riding  a  race  horse  with  a  slack  rein. 
I  have  never  been  fortunate  enough  to  see  it;  but,  judging  from 
the  success  he  met  with  in  'his  mounts/  his  practice  indicated  the 
truth  of  this  theory." — Joseph  Cairn  Simpson. 

"It  is  often  said  that  a  horse  cannot  pull  hard  and  last;  and  this 
is  contrary  to  the  facts  I  am  about  to  mention.     Trustee  lasted; 


ON    TRAINING    AND    CONDITIONING.  89 

and  he  was  a  hard  puller.  Captain  McGrOwan  lasted;  and  he  is 
the  hardest-pulling  horse  in  America,  I  suppose.  Dexter  pulls  a 
pound  or  two,  I  can  assure  you;  and  he  has  shown  his  capacity  to 
go  on.  The  truth  is,  that  the  pulling  horses  last  well  enough,  but 
the  drivers  do  not  last  so  long.  It  is  just  so  with  the  runners. 
Look  at  English  Eclipse,  who  'pulled  a  ton,^  as  the  saying  has  it, 
when  he  distanced  his  fields.  Look  at  Norfolk,  a  desperate  hard 
puller,  but,  nevertheless,  a  thorough  stayer.  I  mention  these  in- 
stances in  order  that  you  may  not  be  led  away  by  a  theory  that  is 
groundless.  To  say  that  a  horse  can't  stay  because  he  pulls,  is  not 
true.  To  say  that  he  might  stay  as  well  if  he  did  not  pull  so  hard, 
and  that  he  would  be  much  more  pleasant  to  ride  or  drive,  is  the 
correct  thing." — Hiram  Woodruff. 

"  As  the  development  and  improvement  of  the  fast  trotter  has 
exerted,  and  must  continue  to  exert,  a  vast  influence  upon  the 
general  horse  stock  of  the  country,  used  for  road  purposes,  it  is 
necessary  to  consider  another  qualification  besides  those  of  speed 
and  bottom.  A  horse  may  be  fast  on  the  course  before  a  light 
sulky,  just  as  a  running  horse  may  be  very  speedy  for  a  mile  with 
about  a  hundred  pounds  on  his  back,  but  not  calculated  for  general 
use  on  the  road,  or  to  improve  the  common  road  stock  as  a  stallion. 
The  ability  to  pull  weight  is  a  quality  of  exceeding  value ;  and, 
when  it  is  found  in  connection  with  speed  and  stoutness,  we  may 
safely  say  that  the  three  prime  characteristics  of  the  harness  horse 
are  obtained.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  ability  of  which  I 
speak  is  that  which  can  pull  at  a  great  rate ;  so  that  putting  on 
extra  weight,  up  to  a  reasonable  point,  shall  make  no  very  great 
difference  in  the  performance  of  the  trotter.  Almost  any  horse  can 
pull  a  moderate  weight  at  a  slow  pace  on  a  good  road;  but  those 
that  can  take  along  about  four  hundred  pounds,  and  keep  the  pace 
good  for  two  or  three  miles,  are,  and  always  have  been,  rather 
scarce." — Hiram  Woodruff. 

"It  will  be  remembered  that  I  have  spoken  of  three  prime 
qualities  in  the  trotting  horse;  viz.,  speed,  bottom  and  the  power 
to  pull  weight.  I  was  already  confident  that  little  Flora  possessed 
the  last,  as  well  as  the  other  two.  People  are  apt  to  think  that 
great  size  is  demanded  for  a  weight-puller,  but  there  are  plenty  of 
notable  instances  to  show  that  this  is  a  mistake.  Still,  though 
there  need  not  be  great  size,  and  though  some  big  horses  are  the 
very  worst  of  weight-pullers,  coming  right  back  as  soon  as  they  are 
required  to  take  along  a  wagon  and  a  heavy  man,  strength  is  cer- 
tainly demanded.  This  strength  in  small  horses  is  the  result  of  a 
nice  adaptation  of  parts,  together  with  particular  power  in  the  loin 


90  SOME    USEFUL    HINTS,    SUGGESTIONS,    ETC., 

and  hind-quarters.  If  a  little  horse  of  that  sort  be  particularly  ex- 
amined, it  will  commonly  be  found  that,  though  they  are  low,  they 
are  long  in  all  the  moving  parts;  and  their  quarters  are  generally 
as  big,  and  sometimes  a  deal  bigger,  than  those  of  many  much 
larger  horses." — Hiram  Woodruff. 

"  Mere  bulk  is  also  useless.  Everybody  must  have  seen  horses 
big  enough  to  pull  a  ton,  to  look  at,  and  able  to  trot  very  fast  in  a 
sulky,  or  to  a  skeleton  wagon,  but  unable  to  act  to  advantage  to 
three  or  four  hundred  pounds.  The  weight-pullers,  as  a  general 
rule,  are  of  medium  size,  with  a  fine,  quick  stroke,  not  over  long, 
and  they  bend  the  knees  well.  They  need  to  be  spirited  goers, 
keeping  well  up  to  their  work  all  the  time;  and,  unless  their  tem- 
per and  pluck  are  both  good,  they  will  sulk,  or  give  up  from  faint- 
heartedness, when  they  feel  the  weight,  and  the  speed  begins  to 
tell.  But  though  mere  bulk  is  useless  for  the  purpose,  a  fair 
amount  of  substance  is  required ;  and  it  will  be  found  in  nearly 
every  case  that,  though  the  weight-puller  may  not  have  a  large 
frame,  he  possesses  a  large  muscular  development.  Long  striders 
are  seldom  good  at  weight.  Being  greatly  extended,  with  a  load 
behind  to  be  pulled  along,  they  are  unable  to  recover,  and  shove 
their  haunches  in  quick,  without  extra  exertion,  under  which  they 
soon  tire.  Here  they  more  than  lose  in  time  of  stroke  what  they 
gain  in  space,  and  loiter,  as  it  were,  in  their  action." — Hiram 
Woodruff. 

"A  horse  learns  more  in  one  lesson  given  in  a  race  than  a 
month's  work  alone  will  do.  The  fact  is,  you  must  work  them  in 
company  as  much  as  you  can;  it  is  the  only  proper  way.  Then 
you  can  find  out  his  strong  points  and  his  weaknesses." —  Varick. 

"Another  suggestion  I  would  make  is:  If  you  have  a  horse  that 
cannot  trot  better  than  2.14  or  2.15,  and  you  are  in  a  race  against 
horses  that  can  trot  in  2.10  or  2.12  and  happen  to  get  away  well, 
and  trotting  second  to  a  horse  you  know  can  go  in  2.10,  it  is  bad 
policy  to  try  to  drive  your  horse  faster  than  he  can  go  in  chasing 
the  2.10  horse.  If  you  do  this,  you  will  certainly  get  left,  as  there 
is  no  chance  for  you  to  win,  and  you  are  apt  to  make  a  mistake, 
and  other  horses  may  come  on  and  beat  you  for  a  place.  A  great 
many  horses  lose  races  they  could  win  if  the  driver  had  patience  to 
Bit  still  a  little  longer." — Edward  F.  Geers. 

"  In  the  training  of  a  horse  to  bring  him  to  his  highest  state  of 
condition,  what  he  eats  and  drinks  cuts  a  very  important  figure. 
There  are  some  horses  that,  from  one  cause  or  another,  will  not  eat 
enough  to  stand  the  severe  preparation;  but,  as  a  rule,  I  think 


ON    TRAINING    AND    CONDITIONING.  91 

most  horses  eat  too  much.  I  think  eating  gets  to  be  a  habit  with 
some  of  them,  and  a  bad  habit  at  that.  If  a  horse  is  inclined  to 
be  'washy/  sweat  freely  and  lose  his  flesh,  that  horse,  I  think, 
needs  more  food  than  one  of  the  opposite  disposition.  While 
Karus  was  a  delicate-looking  horse,  and  people  often  asked  me  if 
he  was  a  good  feeder,  he  was  the  greatest  feeder  for  a  race-horse  I 
ever  saw.  Through  all  his  severe  campaigns  with  me,  I  never  saw 
him  when  he  was  not  ready  to  eat,  and  in  the  hardest  part  of  the 
season  I  fed  him  about  fifteen  pounds  of  oats  a  day.  In  their 
stomachs  horses  diflfer  more  from  the  human  being  than  perhaps 
in  any  other  part  of  their  physical  structure.  A  man  in  the  course 
of  twenty-four  hours  will  take  into  his  stomach  more  different  kinds 
and  sorts  of  food  than  a  horse  would  in  a  lifetime,  and  for  that 
reason  I  think  what  a  horse  does  take  has  more  effect  on  him  than 
it  otherwise  would.  Whatever  a  horse  eats  should  be  of  the  clean- 
est and  best.  I  think,  on  an  average,  that  ten  pounds  of  oats  a 
day,  with  a  fair  amount  of  hay,  is  enough  for  a  horse  to  be  trained 
on.  I  think  that  all  horses  in  the  training  season  should  have 
plenty  of  grass.  In  winter  I  like  carrots  in  small  quantities,  and 
for  a  change  boiled  oats  have  proved  themselves  a  very  satisfactory 
food  to  me.  Some  people  say,  '  What  about  bran  ?'  I  am  a  good 
deal  like  Dr.  Weldon  about  that ;  sawdust  will  answer  the  purpose 
just  as  well,  and  it  is  a  good  deal  cheaper." — John  >Sp/an. 

A  gentleman  connected  with  the  American  Express  Company  in- 
formed me  that  when  horses  used  in  the  company's  business  in 
New  York — where  they  are  fed  on  oats  and  hay — give  out,  they 
are  sent  to  Buffalo  to  be  recruited.  The  system  of  feeding  there 
which  invariably  improves  the  horses  is,  morning  and  noon,  a  mod- 
erate feed  of  oats  and  hay;  at  night  a  half-bushel  of  hay  cut  fine, 
two  quarts  of  wheat  bran  and  two  quarts  of  corn  meal  mixed  to- 
gether, with  a  small  handful  of  salt,  and  the  whole  mess  mixed  with 
hot  water  and  fed  when  cold." —  Western  Rural. 

"  It  is  my  conviction  that  flesh  can  only  be  got  off  in  the  spring 
by  slow  degrees  with  safety.  The  physicking  and  sweating  some- 
times recommended,  and  often  resorted  to,  are  mischievous,  in  my 
opinion ;  and  I  know  that  anything  like  rapid  work  and  hurry  at 
the  beginning,  with  a  horse  overfed  during  the  winter,  and  very 
likely  infirm  in  his  legs,  will  be  apt  to  knock  him  off  before  he  has 
got  the  use  of  them,  or  the  muscles  and  sinews  have  recovered 
much  of  their  tone." — Hiram  Woodruff. 

"  I  think  many  cases  of  horses  being  distressed  and  dried  up  are 
caused  by  the  men  putting  too  much  clothing  on  them.  I  think, 
as  a  rule,  we  are  apt  to  use  too  much,  and  it  is  a  detriment  to  them. 


92  SOME    HINTS    ON    TRAINING    AND    CONDITIONING. 

"  Again,  a  horse  would  seem  to  be  all  burned  up  inside,  and  yet 
would  not  sweat  a  drop,  and  would  seem  to  be  choked  for  the  want 
of  water.  I  think,  as  a  rule,  there  are  more  horses  injured  for  the 
want  of  water  than  there  are  in  giving  it  to  them  in  the  proper 
way.  A  man  must  use  judgment.  I  have  many  times  given  a 
horse  a  bucket  half  full,  sometimes  a  full  one,  then  throw  the 
blankets  on  him  and  walk  him  smartly,  say  for  five  minutes,  and 
the  sweat  would  pour  out  of  him  from  his  head  to  his  tail,  then 
strip  and  scrape  him  and  rub  the  water  out  nicely  and  he  would 
act  like  another  horse." — A.  J.  Feek. 

"  For  a  stimulant  to  give  a  horse  I  formerly  used  cherry  wine, 
whisky,  brandy,  etc.,  but  all  of  these  I  discarded  years  ago,  the 
after  efi"ect  is  so  bad.  It  has  the  same  effect  on  a  horse  it  does  on 
a  man — first  stimulating,  then  depressing.  When  any  stimulation 
is  necessary,  I  use  a  homoeopathic  preparation — a  few  drops  on  the 
tongue — and  the  effect  is  not  only  immediate  but  permanent,  and 
is  beneficial  and  no  bad  effect  afterward.  This  has  helped  me  to 
win  many  a  long  and  hard  race/' — A.  J.  Feek, 


RULES  FOR  TRACK  LAYING. 


We  have  received  numerous  inquiries  recently  as  to  the  method 
of  laying  out  race  tracks.  The  following  directions  will  be  found 
useful : 

A  Third-mile  Track. — The  usual  rule  for  half-mile  tracks  is 
to  have  the  stretches  and  turns  of  equal  length.  If  the  same  rule 
is  observed  in  laying  out  a  third-of-a-mile  track,  each  stretch  and 
turn  should  measure  440  feet.  Therefore,  two  stakes  should  be 
driven  where  one  of  the  stretches  is  to  be  located,  440  feet  apart. 
The  opposite  stretch  then  should  be  staked  out,  parallel  to  the 
first,  and  274  feet  across  at  either  end.  A  wire  237  feet  in  length 
should  be  made  fast  to  a  post  placed  equally  distant  from  the  end 
of  either  stretch,  and  the  turns  staked  as  directed  in  laying  out 
other  tracks.  The  wire  should  be  accurately  measured,  which  may 
be  best  done  with  a  long  steel  tape  measure.  Sufficient  length 
should  be  allowed  so  that  several  turns  may  be  made  around  a 
stick  at  the  end,  and  also  a  loop  to  slip  over  a  spike  to  be  driven  in 
the  upper  end  of  the  turning  stake.  One  end  of  the  wire  should 
be  taken  and  placed  upon  the  stake  at  the  end  of  the  stretch,  while 
an  assistant  with  the  other  end  proceeds  toward  the  end  of  the 
opposite  stretch.  When  the  wire  has  been  tightly  drawn,  the 
turning  stake  should  be  located  in  exact  line  with  the  stakes  at  the 
end  of  the  stretches  and  firmly  guyed  in  every  direction.  After 
the  circuit  has  been  made  and  the  stakes  driven  for  the  turn,  the 
novice  will  probably  be  surprised  to  find  the  wire  is  from  six  to 
eighteen  inches  too  long  from  stretching.  If  this  should  be  the 
case,  it  should  be  shortened,  so  that  it  will  exactly  reach  the  stake 
at  the  end  of  the  stretch,  and  the  turn  corrected.  After  the  track 
is  laid  out,  it  should  always  be  carefully  measured  three  feet  from 
the  stakes  before  construction  is  commenced.  If  this  is  done  with 
a  chain,  it  will  be  found  necessary  to  have  as  many  as  three  assist- 
ants, to  make  sure  that  the  chain  follows  the  curve  at  the  turns. 

A  Half-mile  Track. — Draw  the  parallel  lines  600  feet  long 
and  452  feet  5  inches  apart.  Half-way  between  the  extreme  ends 
of  the  two  parallel  lines  drive  a  stake,  then  loop  a  wire  around  the 


94  RULES  FOR  TRACK  LAYING. 

stake  long  enough  to  reach  to  either  side.  Then  make  a  true 
curve  with  the  wire,  putting  down  a  stake  as  often  as  a  fence  post 
is  needed.  When  this  operation  is  finished  at  both  ends  of  the 
600-foot  parallel  lines  the  track  is  laid  out.  The  inside  fence  will 
rest  exactly  on  the  line  drawn,  but  the  track  must  measure  a  half- 
mile  three  feet  from  the  fence.  The  turns  should  be  thrown  up  an 
inch  to  the  foot.  The  stretches  may  be  anywhere  from  forty-five 
to  sixty  feet. 

A  Mile  Track. — Draw  a  line  through  an  oblong  centre  440 
yards  in  length,  setting  a  stake  at  each  end.  Then  draw  a  line  on 
either  side  of  the  first  line,  exactly  parallel  with  and  417  feet  2 
inches  from  it,  setting  stakes  at  either  end  of  them.  You  will 
then  have  an  oblong  square  440  yards  long  and  384  feet  4  inches 
wide.  At  each  end  of  these  three  lines  you  will  now  set  stakes. 
Now  fasten  a  cord  or  wire  417  feet  2  inches  long  to  the  centre 
stake  of  your  parallelogram,  and  then  describe  a  half-circle,  driving 
stakes  as  often  as  you  wish  to  set  a  fence  post.  When  the  circle 
is  made  at  both  ends  of  your  parallelogram  you  will  have  two 
straight  sides  and  two  circles,  which,  when  measured  three  feet 
from  the  fence,  will  be  exactly  a  mile.  The  turns  should  be  thrown 
up  an  inch  to  the  foot. —  Western  Horseman,  May  8,  1901. 


WHAT  TO  DO  BEFORE  THE  VETERINARY  SURGEON 

COMES. 

By  GEORGE  FLEMING,  F.R.C.V.S. 


Those  who  own  or  have  much  to  do  with  animals  of  various 
kinds,  know  only  too  well  at  times  how  seriously  accidents  or  dis- 
ease may  diminish  the  value  of  these,  and  cause  much  incon- 
venience ;  and  this  loss  and  inconvenience  are  all  the  greater  in 
proportion  to  the  worth  of  these  creatures,  either  as  food  producers, 
servants,  companions,  or  pets.  For  the  treatment  of  casualties  and 
maladies,  when  they  are  at  all  of  a  grave  kind,  the  services  of  the 
veterinary  surgeon  are  necessary,  if  permanent  impairment,  pro- 
tracted recovery,  or  even  death,  is  to  be  averted.  With  the  great 
advance  which  has  been  made  of  late  years  in  veterinary  medicine 
and  surgery,  owners  of  animals  have  benefited  to  a  corresponding 
extent,  while  the  animals  themselves  have  had  their  sufferings 
abridged  and  diminished  very  considerably. 

But  it  is  obvious  that  accidents  may  occur,  or  diseases  that  run 
their  course  very  rapidly  may  set  in,  which  demand  immediate  at- 
tention to  prevent  serious  or  irreparable  consequences;  and  as 
veterinary  aid  may  not  be  immediately  forthcoming,  in  the  interests 
of  humanity,  not  less  than  in  their  own,  the  owners  of  animals 
should  not  be  altogether  ignorant  of  what  is  necessary  to  be  done 
in  such  emergencies.  But  while  insisting  upon  their  possessing 
sufficient  knowledge  to  enable  them  to  give  such  assistance  as  may 
for  the  time  being  obviate  danger,  we  are  far  from  advising  them 
to  dispense  with  the  skill  and  advice  of  a  competent  veterinary  sur- 
geon whenever  the  case  appears  to  demand  his  services.  Of  course, 
it  is  difficult  to  say  when  these  services  may  or  may  not  be  neces- 
sary, as  what  might  seem  a  very  trivial  accident  or  ailment  may 
prove  to  be  of  the  gravest  kind.  It  is,  therefore,  advisable  in 
accident  or  disease,  after  rendering  all  the  help  the  amateur  is 
capable  of,  to  consult  the  veterinary  surgeon  in  good  time,  and  not 
delay  until  it  is  too  late  and  his  knowledge  unavailing.  Great 
numbers  of  valuable  animals  are  annually  lost,  not  only  through 
the  carelessness  or  ignorance  of  their  owners  or  attendants,  but  also 
through  unjustifiable  delay  in  sending  for  the  veterinary  surgeon, 
or  dispensing  with  his  services  altogether  from  motives  of  economy. 
More  especially  is  this  the  case  with  regard  to  such  creatures  as  the 

95 


96  WHAT   TO    DO   BEFORE   THE 

slieep  and  pig,  which  are  usually  left  to  the  mercy  of  shepherds 
and  uneducated  persons,  who,  however  worthy  they  may  be  in  other 
respects,  yet  know  nothing  or  next  to  nothing  of  medicine  or  sur- 
gery, and  are  consequently  far  more  likely  to  do  harm  than  good  by 
their  interference,  particularly  in  the  matter  of  disease. 

It  will  therefore  be  understood  that  the  following  hints  are  not 
meant  to  enable  non-veterinary  people  to  "  doctor "  animals,  but 
merely  to  put  them  in  a  position  to  act  usefully  in  emergencies,  be- 
fore the  veterinary  surgeon  comes. 

Wounds. — Animals,  and  especially  horses,  are  very  often 
Wounded,  and  the  seriousness  of  the  wound  will  depend  not  only 
upon  its  extent  and  character,  but  also  upon  the  part  in  which  it  is 
made,  and  especially  on  the  amount  of  bleeding  that  takes  place. 
With  regard  to  character,  wounds  are  incised^  lacerated^  contused, 
and  punctured. 

Incised  wounds  are  clean  cut  by  some  sharp  body,  and  the  parts 
are  merely  cut  through,  not  torn  or  bruised ;  they  are  made  by 
glass,  knife,  scythe,  or  any  other  keen-edged  instrument  or  body, 
and  do  not  often  contain  foreign  matters,  as  dirt,  grit,  &c.  If  clean, 
and  not  extensive,  and  the  bleeding  slight,  they  may  not  require 
anything  done  to  them  until  the  veterinary  surgeon  arrives,  except 
keeping  them  clean.  If  there  is  bleeding,  cold  water  may  be  ap- 
plied, and  the  edges  of  the  wound  brought  as  near  to  each  other 
as  possible  by  means  of  a  bandage,  by  pins  passed  through  the  lips 
of  the  wound  at  intervals  of  an  inch  or  so,  and  twine  twisted  round 
them,  or  by  stitches  with  a  strong  needle  and  thick  thread.  Should 
the  bleeding  be  profuse,  steps  must  be  actively  taken  to  check  it 
until  proper  aid  is  procured.  Pressure  must  be  made  by  plugging 
the  wound  with  tow,  cotton-wool,  lint,  or  a  handkerchief,  if  there 
be  space ;  if  the  wound  be  in  a  limb,  then  bandaging  the  part 
tightly  with  a  handkerchief  may  check  the  hemorrhage  for  the 
time ;  if  it  does  not,  then  severe  pressure  should  be  made  on  the 
course  of  the  large  vessels  above  the  wound,  by  making  a  bandage 
or  handkerchief  into  a  firm  roll,  placing  it  over  the  vessels — which 
are  always  on  the  inside  of  the  limb — and  securing  it  there  by 
another  bandage.     The  animal  should  be  kept  quiet. 

Lacerated  wounds  are  generally  more  serious  than  incised  wounds, 
as  the  parts  are  torn  and  jagged.  They  are  produced  by  hooks, 
nails,  bites,  kicks,  sharp  prominences,  stakes  in  fields,  &c.  There 
is  seldom  so  much  bleeding  as  in  incised  wounds,  the  vessels  being 
torn  instead  of  cut.  They  are  serious  from  their  extent,  the  parts 
injured,  and  the  after  consequences.  In  the  region  of  the  belly 
they  may  be  extremely  dangerous,  especially  if  the  skin  and  mus- 
cles are  so  torn  that  the  intestines  protrude,  or  the  cavity  of  the 
abdomen  be  opened.     Remove  any  foreign  matters  from  the  wound 


VETERINARY   SURGEON   COMES.  97 

by  the  fingers,  washing  with  cold  or  tepid  water,  and  treat  as  an 
incised  wound,  by  either  bandage,  pins,  or  stitches.  Tears  of  the 
abdominal  muscles  should  be  treated  by  stitches,  if  possible ;  and 
if  the  bowels  protrude,  the  veterinary  surgeon  should  be  sent  for 
without  delay.  Until  he  arrives  the  intestines  should  be  cleaned 
in  warm  water,  if  soiled,  placed  on  a  cloth,  gently  returned,  and 
retained  by  a  wide  bandage  fastened  round  the  body.  Sometimes 
the  muscles  of  the  belly  are  lacerated  without  the  skin  being  torn, 
and  the  intestines  make  a  large  swelling  beneath  the  skin.  In  this 
case  also  the  wide  bandage  is  most  useful.  Should  there  be  bleed- 
ing, apply  cold  water  or  plug  the  wound.  If  the  chest  is  opened, 
the  body  bandage  is  also  to  be  resorted  to,  to  prevent  admission  of 
air.  In  parts  where  the  skin  is  fine  and  thin,  as  the  eyelids  and 
nostrils,  the  edges  of  the  wound  should  be  brought  into  apposition 
as  soon  as  possible,  so  as  to  obtain  adhesion  quickly.  Fine  pins  or 
stitches,  or  glue  or  pitch  plasters,  will  effect  this. 

Contused  wounds  are  the  most  frequent  of  any  among  the  larger 
animals,  and  they  are  serious  from  the  fact  that  the  parts  wounded 
are  also  much  bruised  and  torn,  so  that  their  vitality  is  more  or 
less  impaired,  and  sloughing  is  apt  to  ensue,  abscesses  to  form,  &c. 
They  are  produced  by  falls,  kicks,  blows,  collisions,  bites,  &c.  Very 
serious  contused  wounds  are  those  which  occur  to  joints,  as  the 
knees  and  hocks,  and  especially  when  the  joints  are  opened. 

For  contused  wounds  generally  warm  water  fomentations  are 
best:  at  any  rate,  until  all  grit  and  foreign  matter  is  removed. 
Poultices  are  good  supplementary  agents,  particularly  for  joints. 
When  the  contusions  to  limbs  or  joints  are  severe,  the  animal  should 
be  moved  as  little  as  possible.  Some  contusions  and  wounds  are 
so  serious  when  inflicted,  that  there  is  extreme  depression  and 
symptoms  of  collapse,  manifested  by  cold  sweats,  trembling,  un- 
steady gait,  and  coldness  of  limbs  and  surface  of  body.  A  quart 
of  oatmeal  gruel  with  two  or  three  ounces  of  brandy,  to  a  horse  or 
ox,  and  a  tablespoonful  or  so  of  brandy-and-water  to  a  dog,  will  be 
beneficial  under  these  circumstances.  Rubbing  the  body  and  keep- 
ing it  warm  will  assist  in  restoring  strength. 

Punctured  wounds  are  produced  by  sharp-pointed  objects,  and 
most  important  parts  and  organs  may  be  penetrated  without  scarcely 
any  external  indication  of  the  mischief  done.  If  there  is  bleeding, 
plug  the  wound  or  apply  pressure  outside  until  the  veterinary  sur- 
geon comes.  Very  often  the  sole  of  the  horse's  foot  is  wounded  by 
sharp  flints,  nails,  &c.  The  gravity  of  the  wound  will  depend  upon 
its  depth  and  situation.  A  nail  penetrating  the  sole  deeply  towards 
the  point  of  the  frog  is  a  serious  accident.  Remove  the  nail  care- 
fully by  pulling  it  straight  and  steadily  out,  have  the  shoe  taken 
off,  all  the  horn  removed  from  around  the  wound,  keep  the  foot  in 
7 


98  WHAT   TO   DO  BEFORE   THE 

a  bucket  of  hot  water  for  an  hour  or  two,  then  immerse  it  in  a 
lar<^e  warm  bran  poultice.  If  the  foot  can  be  poulticed  with  a 
high-heeled  shoe  fastened  on  it,  so  much  the  better. 

Punctured  wounds  of  the  feet  caused  by  the  farrier  driving  the 
nails  too  near  or  into  the  quick  in  shoeing,  are  not  uncommon. 
Tapping  around  the  foot  with  a  hammer,  or  pinching  it  with  pin- 
cers, will  reveal  the  part  where  the  injury  has  been  inflicted.  The 
shoe  must  be  taken  off,  the  horn  removed  all  round  the  puncture, 
and  the  wound  well  opened  out,  to  allow  any  matter  that  has  formed 
to  escape.  Then  immerse  the  foot  in  hot  water,  and  afterwards 
poultice. 

Bleeding  from  the  sole  or  frog,  the  result  of  wound,  is  easily 
checked  by  pressure  with  tow,  lint,  or  a  handkerchief,  maintained 
against  the  wounded  part  by  means  of  two  pieces  of  hoop  iron  or 
tough  wood  laid  across  each  other  between  the  shoe  and  the  foot. 

Fractures. — It  is  a  somewhat  popular  notion  that  broken  bones 
in  animals,  and  especially  those  of  the  limbs,  do  not  mend  readily; 
and  it  consequently  happens  that  horses  and  other  creatures  are  im- 
mediately destroyed,  when,  in  many  cases,  with  proper  care  and 
treatment,  they  might  recover  and  be  as  valuable  as  ever.  When 
the  bones  of  the  head  and  jaws  are  fractured,  unless  there  are  grave 
complications  indeed,  there  is  little  danger,  and  a  skillful  veterinary 
surgeon  can  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  make  a  complete  cure, 
provided  he  is  present  in  good  time.  Until  he  arrives,  little  can  be 
done  beyond  keeping  the  animal  quiet.  If  the  lower  jaw  is  broken, 
it  may  be  supported  against  the  upper  one  and  bones  of  the  face  by 
a  bandage,  and  stiff  pieces  of  leather  or  pasteboard  placed  length- 
ways. Broken  ribs  are  supported  by  a  wide  bandage  round  the 
chest.  Sometimes  the  tail  is  broken  in  horses  and  cattle,  and  in 
this  accident  a  leather  or  pasteboard  splint,  or  a  starch  bandage 
(made  by  soaking  a  bandage  in  ordinary  domestic  starch,  and 
wrapping  it  round  the  part  while  still  moist),  will  suffice  as  a  tem- 
porary measure.  It  not  unfrequently  happens  with  the  horse,  that 
in  heavy  falls  the  pelvis  is  fractured,  so  that  when  the  animal  rises 
it  drags  or  strikes  the  toe  or  toes  of  the  hind  feet  to  such  an  extent 
that  it  cannot  travel  any  distance;  the  fetlocks  double  over,  the 
limbs  give  way,  and  repeated  falls  are  the  consequence.  To  get  the 
horse  home  to  his  stable,  it  is  necessary  to  prevent  this  striking  and 
doubling  of  the  limb  or  limbs,  by  passing  a  rope  or  band  round  the 
pastern  and  pulling  the  foot  forward  in  progression.  If  there  is 
intense  lameness  and  inability  to  walk,  the  animal  should  either  be 
allowed  to  remain  at  the  nearest  stable,  or  conveyed  home  in  a  bul- 
lock wagon. 

Fractures  of  the  limbs  are  serious,  according  to  the  nature  of  tho 
fracture  and  the  bone  fractured.     Fractures  are  simple^  compound^ 


VETERINARY    SURGEON   COMES.  99 

and  comminuted.  A  simple  fracture  is  merely  tlie  bone  broken  into 
two  portions ;  it  is  compound  when  the  broken  bones  lacerate  the 
soft  parts  around  tbem  j  and  comminuted  when  the  bone  is  reduced 
to  a  number  of  pieces.  A  simple  fracture  is  the  least  serious,  and 
provided  the  broken  ends  can  be  maintained  in  apposition,  and  no 
important  parts — as  joints — are  involved,  recovery  takes  place  more 
readily  in  animals,  perhaps,  than  in  man.  A  compound  fracture  is 
sometimes  hopeless,  when  the  soft  parts  torn  are  of  importance ; 
and  a  comminuted  fracture  is  generally  a  hopeless  one. 

As  a  rule,  no  animal  should  be  destroyed  for  fracture — especially 
if  it  be  a  valuable  animal — until  it  has  been  seen  by  a  veterinary 
surgeon ;  as  I  have  known  horses,  dogs,  cows,  goats,  and  sheep, 
killed  from  a  leg  being  broken  when  a  cure  could  have  been 
effected. 

Until  the  veterinary  surgeon  comes  the  animal  should  be  kept  as 
quiet  as  possible,  and  the  broken  bone  fixed  by  means  of  a  bandage 
round  it,  above  which  wooden,  pasteboard,  stiff  leather,  or  gutta- 
percha splints  should  be  fastened.  Grutta-percha  makes  an  excel- 
lent splint,  as  when  steeped  in  warm  water  it  is  softened,  and  can 
then  be  moulded  to  the  shape  of  the  part.  To  prevent  movement, 
the  greater  portion  of  the  limb  should  be  enveloped  in  bandages. 
If  the  fracture  is  compound,  the  bone  should  be  "  set,'^  ^.  e., 
straightened,  so  that  the  broken  parts  meet;  then  the  wound 
should  be  treated  with  cold  water,  if  there  is  bleeding,  after  which 
a  linen  bandage  or  handkerchief  must  be  tied  round  it,  then 
splints.  With  small  animals — as  the  dog,  sheep,  goat,  pig,  and 
cat — a  starch  bandage,  or  Burgundy  pitch  melted  and  spread  on 
a  bandage,  answers  very  well.  Horses  sometimes  receive  a  kick 
from  another  horse  on  the  inside  of  the  thigh-bone,  above  the  hock, 
where  the  bone  is  only  covered  by  the  skin,  and  displacement  or 
fracture  does  not  take  place  at  the  time — the  bone  being  only 
cracked.  In  some  cases  there  is  lameness ;  in  other  cases  it  is  so 
slight  that  the  horse  is  kept  at  work,  and  many  days  may  elapse 
before  disunion  occurs.  I  have  known  a  horse  perform  hard  work  for 
seventeen  days  after  receiving  the  kick,  before  the  leg  became  com- 
pletely broken.  When,  therefore,  a  horse  receives  an  injury  of 
this  kind,  every  precaution  should  be  taken,  and  he  ought  not  to 
be  allowed  to  lie  down  for  three  weeks  or  a  month.  If  the  bone 
has  been  really  cracked,  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  a  hard  swelling 
will  appear  at  the  seat  of  contusion — the  new  matter  thrown  out  to 
repair  the  fracture. 

In  all  fractures  of  limb-bones  there  is  great  and  sudden  lameness, 
and  if  manipulation  be  made,  crepitation,  or  grating  of  the  broken 
pieces  of  bone  on  each  other,  will  generally  be  felt.  Cold  water 
continually  applied  to  a  fractured  limb  greatly  alleviates  pain.  i 


100  WHAT   TO   DO   BEFORE   THE 

Dislocations. — Dislocations  in  animals  are  not  infrequent,  and 
some  of  them  are  extremely  serious,  while  others  are  not  so. 
When  they  occur  in  the  joints  of  the  limbs,  there  is  great 
lameness  and  more  or  less  deformity.  They  may  occur  in  various 
situations;  indeed,  there  are  no  joints  which  may  not  be  dis- 
located, though  some  are  much  more  exposed  to  this  accident  than 
others. 

The  prompt  reduction  of  a  dislocation  is  above  all  things  neces- 
sary, and  it  should  be  effected,  if  possible,  without  delay.  Exten- 
sion— pulling  the  dislocated  bones  apart,  with  perhaps  side  pressure 
at  the  same  time — is  to  be  made,  and  then  a  bandage  should  be 
wrapped  round  the  joint,  if  it  belong  to  a  limb.  Cold  water  should 
then  be  applied,  and  the  animal  kept  at  rest. 

Sometimes  dislocation  of  the  stifle  occurs  in  young  or  weakly 
horses — the  stifle-bone  (patella)  slipping  off  to  the  outside  of  the 
joint,  producing  a  peculiar  kind  of  lameness.  The  hind  leg  is 
more  or  less  thrust  backwards,  and  the  horse  cannot  bring  it  for- 
ward— consequently  he  drags  it  stifily  behind  him.  No  dislocation 
is  so  easily  reduced.  The  leg  is  to  be  pulled  well  forward  by 
means  of  a  rope  round  the  pastern,  and  the  stifle-bone,  which  pro- 
jects outwards,  is  then  smartly  pushed  forward :  it  makes  a  clicking 
noise  when  it  gets  in  its  natural  place. 

Dislocation  of  the  lower  jaw  sometimes  occurs  in  the  dog, 
through  opening  the  mouth  too  wide  when  giving  the  animal 
medicine.  The  creature  cannot  close  its  mouth,  and  the  lower  jaw 
is  rather  protruded.  To  reduce  this  dislocation,  place  a  round 
piece  of  wood — a  thick  pencil  or  roller,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
dog — across  the  mouth,  and  well  back.  Then  endeavor  to  close  the 
mouth  in  front,  pushing  back  the  lower  jaw  at  the  same  time, 
when  it  will  enter  the  joint  with  a  jerk.  It  is  best  to  do  this,  and, 
indeed,  all  operations  on  the  dog's  mouth,  with  gloves  on  the  hands. 
The  wood  in  some  instances  may  be  dispensed  with,  the  lower  jaw 
being  pressed  firmly  downward  and  backward. 

Sprains. — Sprains  are  not,  as  a  rule,  so  serious  as  the  majority 
of  fractures,  and  there  is  not  the  same  urgency  with  regard  to  them, 
though  when  very  severe  they  may  be  mistaken  for  fractures. 
More  especially  is  this  the  case  with  sprain  of  the  muscles  and 
ligaments  of  the  horse's  back,  which  if  very  intense  might  be  con- 
founded with  broken  back.  But  in  the  latter  paralysis  is  more  or 
less  complete,  and  the  hind  legs  are  colder  than  the  fore  ones, 
while  sensation  is  generally  lost.  Pricking  the  legs  with  a  pin 
will  prove  the  absence  of  sensation.  Broken  back  is  hopeless, 
while  sprained  back  may  quite  recover.  If  the  accident  has 
occurred  away  from  home,  and  the  horse  cannot  travel,  he  ought  to 
be  carried  in  a  bullock  or  low  flat  cart.     Slings  will  probably  be 


VETERINARY    SURGEON    COMES.  101 

necessary  when  lie  reaches  the  stable,  and  these,  with  the  necessary 
attention,  must  be  furnished  by  the  veterinary  surgeon. 

Sprains  of  tendons  or  ligaments  in  the  limbs  vary  in  intensity 
and  gravity,  and  cause  more  or  less  lameness.  Pain  on  manipula- 
tion, and  increased  temperature,  with  swelling,  and  a  characteristic 
mode  of  progression,  mark  the  seat  of  injury  for  those  accustomed 
to  horses,  tjntil  the  veterinary  surgeon  arrives,  hot  fomentations 
or  cold  water  applications  may  be  resorted  to.  If  tendons  or  liga- 
ments at  the  back  part  of  a  limb  are  injured — indeed,  in  every 
instance  in  which  a  horse  cannot  put  his  heel  to  the  ground — a 
high-heeled  or  patten  shoe  should  be  put  on  the  foot.  This  is 
generally  half  the  cure,  as  it  relieves  the  part  which  is  sprained. 

A  word  of  caution  is  necessary,  however,  with  regard  to  sprains. 
In  all  cases  of  lameness,  unless  there  is  exceedingly  conclusive 
evidence  to  the  contrary,  the  foot  should  be  suspected  as  the  seat  of 
lameness,  and  especially  the  shoeing  as  a  cause. 

Burns  and  Scalds. — All  the  domestic  animals  are  liable  to 
be  burned  or  scalded :  the  larger  from  their  dwellings  taking  fire, 
or  their  being  employed  in  certain  works;  and  the  smaller,  to 
scalding  by  hot  water  accidentally  spilt  upon  them  in  the  kitchen. 
The  seriousness  of  these  accidents  usually  depends  upon  the  extent 
of  surface  and  depth  involved,  and  the  parts  implicated.  As  a  rule, 
severe  burns  or  scalds  either  lead  to  a  fatal  result  or  damage  the 
animal  so  much  as  to  render  the  expense  and  trouble  of  treatment 
inadvisable.  The  severity  of  these  accidents  cannot,  however,  be 
ascertained  with  certainty  until  the  arrival  of  the  veterinary  sur- 
geon. In  the  meantime,  the  injured  parts  should  be  excluded  from 
the  air  as  quickly  as  possible,  some  soothing  application  being  pre- 
viously applied.  If  at  hand,  in  the  case  of  burns  or  scalds  which 
are  not  very  severe,  white  lead  paint  is  a  good  application.  Baking 
soda  (bicarbonate  of  soda)  is  generally  kept  in  every  house,  and  is 
a  very  good  remedy ;  it  may  be  made  up  into  a  paste  with  water, 
and  laid  over  the  injured  part ;  or  it  may  be  merely  sprinkled  as  a  dry 
powder  over  it.  The  well-known  "  Carron  oil "  (equal  parts  of 
lime  water  and  linseed  oil),  solution  of  alum  (two  ounces  to  the 
pint  of  water),  Goulard  water,  and  other  applications,  have  all  been 
commended. 

After  dressing  with  either  of  them,  the  parts  should  be  covered 
thickly  with  cotton-wool  or  flour.  When  the  pain  is  very  severe, 
bathing  with  oil  of  turpentine  allays  it,  and  an  after  application  of 
resin  ointment  is  beneficial. 

Bites  and  Stings. — Ordinary  bites  may  be  treated  as  lacerated 
or  contused  wounds,  the  part  being  well  cleansed.  Poisonous  bites, 
more  particularly,  require  thorough  cleansing,  and  the  most  prompt 
treatment,  to  avert  serious  or  fatal  consequences.     Active  suction 


102  WHAT   TO   DO   BEFORE   THE 

by  the  mouth,  causing  a  strong  jet  of  water  to  play  upon  them, 
and  squeezing  them  well,  should  at  once  be  resorted  to.  The  cir- 
culation  in  the  part  should  be  retarded  wherever  possible,  by 
making  pressure  on  the  larger  vessels  passing  from  it  by  means  of 
the  fingers  or  a  handkerchief  and  pad,  as  recommended  for  stop- 
ping bleeding.  It  may  be  absolutely  necessary  to  cauterize  the 
wounds,  and  to  effect  this  there  is  seldom  anything  more  convenient 
than  a  red-hot  iron,  in  the  form  of  a  skewer,  nail,  or  any  other  iron 
object  in  shape  like  the  animal's  teeth  or  fangs.  If  any  caustic — 
as  nitrate  of  silver,  sulphate  of  copper,  nitric  acid — is  at  hand, 
then  it  may  be  employed  instead ;  but  the  destruction  of  the  poison 
must  be  thorough.  Snake-bite  should  be  treated  in  a  similar  way, 
but  if  symptoms  of  depression  or  collapse  appear,  then  stimulants 
must  be  quickly  administered.  Brandy  will  doj  but  spirits  of 
ammonia  (liquor  ammonia)  is  best.  The  doses  may  be  small,  but 
given  frequently.  The  injection  of  the  liquor  ammonia  into  the 
veins  often  affords  the  only  chance  of  saving  life. 

Animals  are  sometimes  most  seriously  stung  by  wasps,  bees,  or 
hornets,  and  death  not  infrequently  ensues.  Lime-water  sponged 
over  the  surface,  a  strong  lather  of  carbolic  acid  soap  in  which  a 
little  additional  carbolic  acid  has  been  dissolved,  a  solution  of  car- 
bolic acid  (one  ounce  to  the  quart  of  water),  or  a  solution  of  liquor 
ammonia  (two  ounces  to  the  quart  of  water),  are  good  applications. 
To  diminish  the  general  irritation  give  laudanum  (tincture  of 
opium),  half  a  teaspoonful  to  a  dog,  a  tablespoonful  to  a  calf,  and 
one  or  two  ounces  to  a  horse  or  cow. 

Rabid  Dogs. — A  few  words  as  to  rabid  or  mad  dogs,  and  the 
measures  to  be  adopted  with  regard  to  them.  Every  person  who 
keeps  a  dog,  and  even  those  who  do  not,  should  know  something 
of  rabies,  and  how  its  evil  consequences  may  be  averted.  In  the 
first  place,  a  mad  dog  is  not  afraid  of  water,  but  will  drink  it  and 
swim  in  it,  and  even  lap  its  own  urine.  Therefore  the  water  test 
is  a  fallacious  one.  Secondly,  a  mad  dog  does  not  always  froth  at 
the  mouth,  though  sometimes  saliva  hangs  from  it.  Thirdly,  a 
dog  in  this  condition  is  not  always  furious.  Fourthly,  the  appetite 
is  not  always  lost,  but  it  is  generally  so  depraved  that  the  creature 
swallows  all  kinds  of  substances.  The  earliest  symptoms  are — 
changed  manner ;  moroseness;  desire  to  retire  into  out-of-the-way 
places ;  restlessness ;  tendency  to  lick  cold  substances — as  iron  or 
stone — and  to  gnaw  and  swallow  wood,  carpets,  rugs,  &c. ;  desire 
to  bite  and  fight  with  other  dogs ;  seeking  to  escape  from  home, 
and  returning  after  a  time  dirty,  fatigued,  and  strange  in  manner; 
altered  bark  and  howl;  squinting  of  the  eyes;  readiness  to  snap, 
even  at  those  to  whom  it  was  most  attached  ;  insensibility  to  pain, 
as  while  being  beaten ;  worrying  other  creatures.     In  some  cases 


VETERINARY   SURGEON    COMES.  103 

the  lower  jaw  drops,  the  moutli  gapes,  and  the  dog  looks  as  if 
something  were  in  its  throat.  These  are  the  most  marked  sympt- 
toms,  and  whenever  they  are  exhibited  by  a  dog  it  should  be  at 
once  safely  secured  until  the  arrival  of  the  veterinary  surgeon. 
We  have  just  enumerated  the  measures  to  be  promptly  had  re- 
course to  when  a  person  or  animal  has  been  bitten  by  a  dog — no 
matter  what  its  condition  may  be. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  at  once  destroy  a  dog  which  has  bitten 
any  one,  as  its  state  of  health  cannot  then  be  ascertained.  The 
most  judicious  course  is  to  have  the  animal  securely  tied  up  where 
it  cannot  do  injury,  and  keep  it  under  the  observation  of  the 
veterinary  surgeon  for  a  few  days  j  this  will  decide  whether  rabies 
is  present  or  absent.  A  stupid  notion  is  entertained  by  some 
people,  that  if  a  healthy  dog  inflict  a  bite,  the  person  or  animal 
wounded  will  incur  great  peril  should  it  afterwards  become  rabid. 
This  notion  has  no  foundation  whatever  in  fact,  and  should  be  got 
rid  of,  as  it  frequently  causes  much  anxiety  and  distress. 

Choking. — Choking  often  occurs  with  animals,  and  in  some 
cases  death  rapidly  ensues  if  relief  is  not  afforded.  In  the  larger 
animals  it  is  generally  caused  by  roots,  apples,  dry  fodder — as  chaff', 
bran,  chopped  hay,  &c.,  or  foreign  substances.  In  the  smaller 
animals — dog  and  cat — it  is  usually  a  bone.  Sometimes  it  is  due 
to  grooms  giving  a  ball,  either  through  this  being  too  large,  too 
hard,  or  improperly  placed  at  the  back  of  the  mouth. 

The  symptoms  differ  somewhat,  according  to  the  situation  and 
nature  of  the  obstruction.  When  the  latter  is  solid,  and  lodged  at 
the  upper  part  of  the  throat  or  the  neck,  the  animal  exhibits  much 
distress:  eyes  prominent  and  staring;  difficult  breathing;  saliva 
flowing  from  the  mouth ;  strenuous  attempts  to  swallow;  bending 
the  nose  in  towards  the  chest,  then  spasmodically  curving  the  neck 
and  extending  the  head;  champing  the  jaws  together ;  coughing 
violently,  shrieking,  and  even  expelling  dung  and  urine ;  stamping 
and  pawing  with  the  feet;  when  attempts  are  made  to  drink  water, 
the  fluid  returns  by  the  nostrils ;  and  there  is  profuse  cold  sweating. 
In  cattle  there  is  great  and  rapid  distension  of  the  stomach,  which 
may  very  soon  produce  asphyxia ;  and  when  the  substance  gets 
over  the  top  of  the  windpipe  in  horses  or  cattle,  death  may  result 
in  a  few  minutes. 

When  the  obstruction  is  lodged  in  the  neck  portion  of  the  gullet, 
there  is  less  difficulty  in  discovering  it  than  when  it  is  at  the  back 
of  the  mouth  or  in  the  chest  portion ;  as,  if  at  all  large,  it  can  be 
seen  as  well  as  felt  in  the  furrow  and  along  the  windpipe. 

When  it  is  lodged  in  the  part  of  the  gullet  which  passes  through 
the  chest,  then  the  symptoms  are  not  generally  so  urgent.  But 
the  animal  cannot  swallow,  and  food  and  water  are  expelled  through 


104  WHAT    TO   DO   BEFORE   THE 

the  mouth  and  nostrils  in  cattle,  though  only  by  the  nostrils  in  the 
horse. 

With  dry,  chopped,  or  ground  food,  the  symptoms  are  similar, 
except  that  if  it  is  lodged  in  the  neck  portion  of  the  gullet,  instead 
of  a  hard  defined  mass  being  felt  the  swelling  will  be  soft  and 
somewhat  doughy. 

Small  animals  cough,  attempt  persistently  to  vomit,  and  stringy 
saliva  flows  from  the  mouth. 

In  urgent  cases  of  choking  there  may  be  danger  in  waiting  for 
the  veterinary  surgeon,  and  it  may  be  necessary  to  attempt  to  give 
relief.  A  rapid  examination  should  be  made  at  the  side  of  the 
neck  along  the  throat,  in  order  to  discover  if  the  obstruction  is 
situated  there.  If  it  is  not,  then  an  examination  must  be  made 
of  the  back  part  of  the  mouth.  This  requires  tact  and  care,  as 
well  as  skill,  unfortunately,  with  the  larger  animals,  and  amateurs 
do  not  always  possess  this.  The  head  should  be  raised  and  the 
nose  extended,  the  mouth  kept  widely  open  by  some  means,  the 
tongue  carefully  and  steadily  pulled  out  by  the  left  hand,  while 
the  right  hand  is  passed  back  into  the  throat.  Should  it  be  able 
to  reach  and  seize  the  obstructive  body  by  one  or  more  fingers, 
this  ought  to  be  drawn  forward  out  of  the  mouth.  Should  its 
seizure  be  diflicult,  an  assistant  must  make  firm  upward  pressure 
on  each  side  of  the  neck,  towards  the  back  of  the  lower  jaw.  If 
this  does  not  succeed,  and  when  the  abdomen  swells  so  much  as  to 
threaten  suffocation,  it  has  been  recommended  to  fasten  a  gag  in 
the  mouth — a  smooth  round  piece  of  wood,  about  two  inches  in 
diameter,  tied  by  means  of  a  cord  at  each  end  across  the  mouth 
around  the  top  of  the  head,  behind  the  ears  or  horns.  In  many 
cases  nothing  more  is  required  to  be  done,  the  obstacle  passing 
down  the  throat.  When  the  animal  begins  to  scream  for  breath, 
or  stagger  about,  or  has  fallen  from  suffocation,  then  not  a  moment 
is  to  be  lost  in  opening  the  windpipe.  This,  though  requiring  skill 
to  do  it  properly,  nevertheless  in  such  a  death-or-life  case  must  be 
attempted  by  the  amateur.  An  ordinary  pen  or  pocket-knife  must 
be  pushed  into  the  front  of  the  neck,  about  six  or  eight  inches 
below  the  lower  jaw,  and  an  incision  three  inches  long  made  into 
the  windpipe  from  above  to  below.  Into  this  incision  two  fingers 
should  be  pushed  and  then  separated,  so  as  to  open  a  wide  aperture 
into  which  the  air  can  pass.  This  aperture  must  be  kept  open 
until  the  arrival  of  the  veterinary  surgeon,  who  can  then  insert  a 
proper  tube,  and  set  about  the  removal  of  the  obstacle.  When  the 
obstacle  is  lower,  and  the  symptoms  not  extremely  urgent,  occa- 
sional small  quantities  of  water,  gruel,  or  linseed  oil  should  be  ad- 
ministered, and  if  it  can  be  felt  in  the  region  of  the  neck  it  may 
be  pushed  gently  up  and  down  until  it  is  well  moistened,  when  it 


VETERINARY   SURGEON    COMES.  105 

will  probably  pass  on  into  the  stomach.  Should  this  not  succeed, 
then  gentle  force  from  above  must  be  resorted  to  if  there  is  distress, 
and  the  veterinary  surgeon  has  not  yet  appeared.  There  is  a 
special  instrument — the  probang — which  should  be  kept  in  every 
cattle  establishment;  but  if  this  is  not  at  hand,  then  a  long  piece 
of  rather  thick  new  rope — one  end  being  teased  out  a  little  and 
tied  back  to  make  it  wider  and  softer — must  serve  as  a  makeshift 
probang.  The  rope  at  this  extremity,  and  for  some  distance,  must 
be  well  oiled  or  greased,  and  the  animal's  nose  and  head  being 
raised  in  a  Hne  with  the  neck,  the  tongue  is  pulled  out,  the  wide 
end  of  the  rope  passed  steadily  and  gently  along  to  the  back  of  the 
mouth,  into  and  down  the  gullet,  where  it  may  be  seen  at  the  left 
side  of  the  neck.  When  the  obstruction  is  reached,  firm  and  con- 
tinuous pressure  has  to  be  exerted  upon  it,  a  few  seconds  at  a  time, 
until  it  begins  to  move ;  then  it  is  pushed  into  the  stomach.  When 
this  is  accomplished,  the  probang  is  carefully  withdrawn,  and  a 
quantity  of  gruel,  and  perhaps  a  stimulant  as  well,  given.  When 
the  obstacle  is  finely  divided  food,  the  probang  may  do  harm  by 
pressing  it  into  a  firm  mass.  It  is  then  better  to  administer  oil, 
gruel,  or  water,  and  trust  to  external  manipulation. 

In  cattle,  when  the  abdomen  is  so  extremely  distended  as  to 
threaten  suffocation,  a  knife  should  be  plunged  into  the  right  side 
near  the  spine,  and  in  front  of  the  haunch-bone.  With  small 
animals  care  is  necessary  in  handling  them,  in  order  to  avoid  being 
injured.  In  a  form  of  madness  in  the  dog — "  dumb  madness" — 
the  mouth  gapes  as  if  there  were  a  bone  lodged  at  the  back  part 
of  the  throat;  and  people  have  lost  their  life  from  hydrophobia, 
through  putting  their  fingers  into  the  mouth  in  search  of  the  sup- 
posed bone,  and  getting  wounded.  Gloves  should  therefore  always 
be  worn  in  these  cases.  The  bone  or  foreign  substance  may  be 
seized  with  the  finger,  forceps,  or  pliers,  the  jaws  being  held  apart 
by  an  assistant. 

The  cat  should  be  wrapped  in  a  towel  before  any  attempt  is 
made  to  examine  its  throat. 

In  the  case  of  the  horse  or  cow,  sloppy  food  should  be  given  for 
some  days  after  choking,  especially  if  much  force  and  manipulation 
have  been  required  to  give  relief. 

Bleeding  from  the  Nose,  Mouth,  Stomach,  and  Lungs. — 
Bleeding  from  the  nose  and  lungs,  though  not  very  frequent  in 
animals,  yet  when  it  does  occur  generally  causes  considerable  alarm, 
and  in  some  cases  with  good  reason,  particularly  when  blood  comes 
from  the  lungs  or  stomach. 

Bleeding  from  the  nose  is  the  result  of  injury  to  the  bones  of 
the  face — is  from  a  blow — or  to  the  lining  membrane  of  the  nose; 
as  well  as  to  severe  coughing,  sneezing,  over-exertion — particularly 


106  WHAT   TO   DO   BEFORE   THE 

in  harness  while  wearing  a  tight  collar,  and  the  animal  is  out  of 
condition.  It  may  also  be  due  to  disease — as  in  glanders,  when 
we  have  ulceration ;  or  to  leeches  getting  up  the  nose  while  the 
animal  is  drinking  from  a  pond  or  stream.  The  blood  comes  away 
by  drops,  sometimes  in  a  very  thin  stream,  and  usually  from  only 
one  nostril;  there  is  no  foaming  or  cough,  though  the  animal  may 
occasionally  sneeze.  It  is  rare  that  any  bad  effects  follow  bleeding 
from  the  nose  when  uncomplicated  with  disease.  If  it  is  due  to 
leeches,  then  these  must  be  reached  and  picked  off. 

Sponging  the  face  and  nose  with  cold  water,  and  throwing  it  up 
the  nostril,  will  usually  check  bleeding.  If  it  persists,  however, 
the  horse's  head  should  be  tied  up  high  to  the  hay  rack,  a  beam, 
or  the  branch  of  a  tree ;  and  if  it  continues  very  severe  the  nostril 
should  be  plugged  with  a  sponge,  handkerchief,  or  bundle  of  tow. 
As  the  horse  breathes  only  through  the  nostrils — not  by  the  mouth 
as  well,  like  the  ox,  dog,  pig,  or  sheep — both  nostrils  must  not  be 
plugged  at  the  same  time.  An  examination  should  be  made  by  a 
veterinary  surgeon,  to  ascertain  the  amount  of  injury  or  disease. 

Bleeding  from  the  mouth  is  commonly  due  to  injury  or  leeches, 
and  the  blood  is  bright  red  in  color.  Allowing  the  animal  to  rinse 
its  mouth  in  cold  water,  or  washing  it  out  with  a  solution  of  alum 
in  water,  will  check  or  stop  the  hemorrhage. 

Bleeding  from  the  stomach  is  symptomatic  of  serious  disorder — 
as  of  disease  or  poisoning — and  demands  the  attention  of  the  veter- 
inary surgeon.  The  blood  will  be  discharged  from  both  nostrils  in 
the  horse,  but  chiefly  from  the  mouth  in  other  animals.  It  is  black 
in  color,  has  a  sourish  smell,  and  is  more  or  le^s  in  clots.  Attempts 
at  vomiting  are  usually  observed  in  stomach  hemorrhage.  The 
cause  should  be  discovered,  if  possible,  and  if  poisoning  is  sus- 
pected or  ascertained,  the  poison  will  be  of  a  corrosive  nature,  and 
have  caused  ulceration  of  the  interior  of  the  stomach.  In  such 
circumstances,  linseed  or  olive  oil,  starch,  or  flour  gruel,  or  a  quan- 
tity of  beaten-up  eggs,  should  be  administered.  If  these  do  not 
combine  with  the  poison,  and  so  render  it  inert,  they  will,  at  any 
rate,  act  as  a  protection  against  the  further  action  of  the  substance, 
and  more  or  less  soothe  the  ulcerated  surface.  If  there  is  pain, 
opium — either  in  the  form  of  powder  or  watery  solution — should 
be  given  mixed  with  the  gruel,  oil,  or  eggs.  The  acetate  of  lead 
in  solution  is  also  useful. 

Bleeding  from  the  lungs  is  distinguished  from  that  from  the  nos- 
trils, mouth,  or  stomach,  by  the  animal  coughing  very  much,  and 
the  blood — which  passes  from  the  nostrils  in  the  horse,  mouth  and 
nostrils  in  other  animals — being  bright  red  and  foamy.  There  is 
usually  distress  in  breathing.  It  is  ordinarily  brought  on  by  severe 
exertion  or  coughing,  though  it  may  also  be  a  result  of  disease — as 


VETERINARY    SURGEON   COMES.  107 

acute  congestion  of  the  lungs  or  disease  of  the  heart.  The  horse 
must  be  kept  perfectly  quiet,  and  cold  water,  acidulated  with  vin- 
egar or  sulphuric  acid,  given  in  plenty  to  drink.  The  stable  or 
loose  box  should  be  well  ventilated  and  cool,  and  the  body  warmly 
clothed.  If  the  limbs  are  cold,  then  rub  them  well,  and  bandage 
them.  If  the  bleeding  is  due  to  congestion  of  the  lungs — as  it  is 
after  severe  exertion,  and  especially  when  the  animal  is  not  in  con- 
dition— then  a  strong  dose  of  brandy-and-water  should  be  given. 
A  dose  of  opium  should  also  be  administered,  if  it  is  at  hand. 

Palpitation  of  the  Heart. — The  horse,  dog,  and  cow  are 
liable  to  attacks  of  palpitation  of  the  heart,  but  especially  the  first- 
mentioned  animal.  If  there  is  no  actual  disease  of  the  heart,  pal- 
pitation— though  alarming — is  not  of  much  moment,  though  at  the 
time  it  may  inconvenience  or  distress  the  animal.  The  excessive 
convulsive  beating  or  thumping  of  the  heart  may  be  due,  when 
disease  is  not  present,  to  fear,  or  nervousness,  or  over-exertion  when 
out  of  condition  or  weakly.  The  beating  or  palpitation  is  so  loud 
that  it  can  be  distinctly  heard  as  a  series  of  dull,  thumping,  inter- 
mittent sounds,  commencing  abruptly,  and  continuing  for  a  variable 
period,  the  body  jerking  at  the  same  time  as  the  thump.  When 
this  palpitation  begins  during  severe  exertion,  as  in  galloping,  the 
animal  should  be  stopped,  and  kept  quiet,  with  the  head  to  the 
wind,  until  the  sounds  have  diminished  and  the  jerking  of  the  body 
has  ceased  Or  it  may  be  walked  quietly  home,  receiving  some  ale 
and  gruel,  if  convenient,  and  the  journey  happens  to  be  a  long  one. 
As  debility  is  generally  present,  and  perhaps  the  heart  may  be  dis- 
eased, the  veterinary  surgeon  should  be  consulted. 

Acute  Congestion  of  the  Lungs. — x\cute  congestion  of  the 
lungs  is  most  frequent  in  horses,  and  if  not  promptly  removed  it 
may  quickly  cause  death,  or  lead  to  inflammation  of  the  lungs — 
pneumonia.  Various  causes  will  produce  this  congestion,  but  per- 
haps the  commonest  is  severe  exertion  when  out  of  condition,  or 
bringing  in  a  heated  and  exhausted  horse  from  a  cold  atmosphere 
to  a  hot  and  badly-ventilated  stable. 

When  it  occurs  during  exertion,  the  animal  looks  distressed; 
the  nostrils  are  widely  dilated,  the  breathing  is  greatly  hurried  and 
labored,  the  nose  thrust  out,  the  eyes  staring  and  red,  the  gait  un- 
steady, the  ears  and  limbs  cold,  the  body  bedewed  with  a  clammy 
perspiration,  and  the  heart's  beats — felt  behind  the  elbow — are 
irregular  and  disordered.  If  movement  is  continued  the  animal 
will  soon  fall. 

The  horse  should  be  pulled  up  before  becoming  so  distressed — 
the  wheezing,  hurried,  and  labored  breathing,  slackening  speed, 
heaviness  in  hand,  and  staggering  gait,  are  warnings — girths  slack- 
ened, or  saddle  altogether  removed^  or  if  in  harness,  the  collar, 


108  WHAT    TO   DO   BEFORE   THE 

and  everything  else  which  may  impede  respiration  or  fidget  the 
horse. 

The  head  should  be  turned  to  the  wind,  the  ears  and  legs  well 
rubbed,  as  well  as  the  surface  of  the  body,  if  wisps  or  cloths  can 
be  procured,  and  a  good  dose  of  alcohol  (whisky  or  brandy),  one 
or  two  wine-glassfuls,  and  water  administered;  or  if  this  cannot  be 
procured,  then  warm  gruel  with  a  quantity  of  ginger  or  pepper  in 
it  must  be  given.  Acute  congestion  of  the  lungs,  when  occurring 
in  the  stable,  presents  the  same  symptoms :  great  distress  of  coun- 
tenance, widely-dilated  nostrils  and  very  hurried  breathing,  cold 
legs  and  ears,  &c.  Remove  from  the  hot  stable  to  a  cool  place,  or 
throw  open  the  doors  and  windows ;  give  a  stimulant  as  above,  and 
repeat  it  in  half  an  hour  or  so,  if  the  veterinary  surgeon  has  not 
arrived.  Rub  the  legs,  ears,  and  body  well,  then  clothe  and  band- 
age to  keep  up  the  surface  temperature.  If  relief  is  not  soon  af- 
forded, and  skilled  aid  has  not  yet  been  available,  horse  rugs  soaked 
in  hot  water  and  wrung  out  should  be  wrapped  round  the  body, 
and  these  again  covered  with  dry  rugs.  If  the  amateur  can  prac- 
tise phlebotomy  with  safety,  the  horse  should  be  bled  from  the 
jugular  vein  to  the  extent  of  six  or  eight  quarts.  Spirits  of  am- 
monia, in  doses  of  half  an  ounce  in  a  quart  of  tepid  water,  and 
frequently  repeated,  is  an  excellent  medicine.  Mustard  poultices 
should  be  applied  to  the  sides  and  front  of  the  chest,  if  the  hot- 
water  rugs  have  not  been  employed. 

Pleurisy. — Pleurisy  generally  commences  suddenly,  like  con- 
gestion of  the  lungs,  and  the  symptoms  are  not  very  unlike  those 
observed  in  that  condition.  Only  the  ribs  are,  as  it  were,  fixed, 
the  sides  of  the  chest  do  not  move,  and  the  breathing  is  mainly 
carried  on  by  the  muscles  of  the  belly — inspiration  being  short  and 
catching,  while  the  air  is  expelled  slowly  and  carefully.  Turning 
the  horse  round  suddenly — he  is  unwilling  to  be  moved — will  cause 
him  to  grunt;  there  is  usually  a  short,  painful  cough,  and  if  press- 
ure be  applied  by  the  ends  of  the  fingers  between  the  ribs,  over  the 
inflamed  part,  the  animal  winces,  grunts,  and  tries  to  evade  it. 
There  is  often  much  uneasiness,  though  it  is  rare  that  he  seeks  to 
lie  down.  Until  the  arrival  of  the  veterinary  surgeon  the  treat- 
ment should  be  the  same  as  for  congestion  of  the  lungs,  hot-water 
rugs  or  mustard  poultices  to  the  sides  of  the  chest  being  all-im- 
portant. 

Inflammation  of  the  Feet. — iDflammation  of  the  feet,  or 
laminitis,  is  a  very  serious  condition  in  the  horse,  and  demands 
careful  and  active  treatment  at  its  very  commencement  or  congest- 
ive stage,  if  grave  consequences  are  to  be  averted.  It  is  most  fre- 
quently induced  by  long  or  rapid  journeys  on  hard  roads  during 
hot  weather,  or  in  animals  not  in  training;  improper  shoeing,  and 


VETERINARY   SURGEON    COMES.  109 

injuries ;  tliough  it  not  unfrequently  appears  as  a  sequel  of  such 
diseases  as  influenza,  inflammation  of  the  lungs  or  bowels,  feeding 
on  certain  kinds  of  food,  standing  too  long  in  the  stable,  and  over- 
feeding. It  is  a  most  painful  disease,  and  when  acute  the  symp- 
toms are  most  marked.  The  fore-feet  are  most  frequently  involved, 
and  in  addition  to  signs  of  general  fever — hurried  breathing,  dila- 
ted nostrils,  anxious  countenance,  hard  quick  pulse,  perspiring — 
there  is  great  disinclination  to  move,  even  when  force  is  employed, 
the  animal  swaying  his  body  backwards  and  forwards  rather  than 
lift  the  feet  off  the  ground.  These  are  placed  well  out  in  front,  so 
as  to  throw  the  weight  on  the  heels,  while  the  hind  legs  are  brought 
more  under  the  body.  When  compelled  to  move,  the  hind  limbs 
have  to  sustain  nearly  all  the  weight ;  the  horse  appears  greatly  dis- 
tressed, and  groans,  and  the  hoofs  are  very  hot.  If  both  fore-feet 
are  involved,  it  is  all  but  impossible  to  make  the  horse  stand  on 
one  of  them ;  but  if  only  one  is  affected,  then  this  is  often  rested 
and  placed  in  front.  When  the  hoofs  of  the  inflamed  feet  are 
tapped  with  a  hammer,  the  greatest  distress  is  exhibited.  Should 
the  hind  feet  be  affected — which  is  not  so  common — they  are  placed 
well  beneath  the  body,  but  the  front  ones  are  brought  back  close  to 
them,  so  as  to  sustain  a  larger  share  of  the  weight. 

If  there  is  only  congestion — that  is,  the  disease  has  only  com- 
menced— compelling  the  animal  to  take  long-continued  but  gentle 
walking  exercise  on  soft  ground,  may  soon  effect  a  recovery,  and 
more  especially  if  the  shoes  are  taken  off,  during  the  intervals  of 
rest  cold  water  being  applied  to  the  hoofs,  or  the  feet  immersed  in 
cold  poultices.  A  strong  dose  of  physic  should  also  be  given  soon, 
if  the  animal  is  in  gross  condition.  If  it  is  apprehended  that  the 
congestive  stage  has  passed  and  the  inflammatory  one  is  present, 
then  exercise  should  not  be  resorted  to,  but  the  margin  of  the  hoof 
should  be  rasped  down  when  the  shoes  are  removed,  so  as  to  make 
it  level  with  the  sole,  and  poultices  applied.  It  will  be  all  the 
better  if  the  horse  can  be  induced  to  lie  down  on  a  good  bed  of 
sawdust  or  tan.  Considering  the  serious  character  of  this  disease, 
no  time  should  be  lost  in  sending  for  the  veterinary  surgeon. 

Sunstroke. — During  very  hot  weather,  animals  exposed  to  the 
sun  and  compelled  to  undergo  severe  exertion  are  liable  to  sun- 
stroke or  heat  apoplexy.  The  attack  may  be  quite  sudden — the 
first  intimation  of  it  being  the  horse,  or  whatever  animal  it  chances 
to  be,  falling  to  the  ground  as  if  shot.  At  other  times,  if  it  be  a 
horse  in  harness,  signs  of  giddiness  and  stupor  are  manifested ;  the 
animal  shows  an  indisposition  to  go  on  so  freely  as  usual,  hangs 
heavy  in  hand,  does  not  care  for  the  whip,  and  staggers  If  not 
relieved  he  stops,  props  out  his  limbs,  drops  his  head,  appears  to 
be  only  half  conscious,  the  breathing  is  hurried,  panting,  and  noisy, 


110  WHAT    TO    DO   BEFORE    THE 

the  eyes  staring  and  bloodshot,  and  the  body  perhaps  covered  with 
perspiration.  Then  the  creature  falls  quite  unconscious,  struggles 
perhaps,  or  lies  perfectly  still;  the  breathing  is  stertorous,  and 
death  may  ensue  more  or  less  rapidly  in  the  midst  of  profound 
coma. 

Debility,  bad  and  tight-fitting  harness,  keeping  in  hot,  insuffici- 
ently-ventilated stables,  insufficient  exercise,  unsuitable  food,  and 
plethora,  are  all  predisposing  causes,  and  should  be  guarded  against 
during  hot,  sultry  weather,  if  animals  must  be  travelled,  or  cannot 
be  kept  cool. 

When  attacked,  remove  into  a  cool,  shady  place,  if  possible; 
whether  possible  or  not,  cold  water  should  be  applied  freely  to  the 
head  and  neck.  To  the  head  and  spine  it  should  more  particularly 
be  applied  in  a  full  stream,  and  an  ice-bag  will  be  found  most  bene- 
ficial if  placed  against  the  head.  Tbe  limbs  should  be  well  hand- 
rubbed,  and  it  may  be  necessary  to  apply  turpentine  or  ammonia 
liniment  to  them  by  friction,  and  mustard  to  the  head  and  sides  of 
the  neck  when  torpor  is  extreme. 

Recovery  in  bad  cases  is  slow,  and  should  the  animal  rally  in  a 
short  time  it  must  not  be  immediately  worked  or  travelled. 

Fits. — Animals  often  fall  down  in  what  are  called  "  fits,"  and 
cause  alarm  Horses,  when  in  harness,  and  even  in  the  saddle,  are 
liable  to  attacks  of  epilepsy,  during  which  they  may  be  seized  with 
partial  convulsions  without  falling,  or  they  may  fall  and  be  violently 
convulsed  while  lying  on  the  ground.  In  such  circumstances  but 
little  can  be  done,  except  allowing  the  animal  to  have  plenty  of 
air,  preventing  it  injuring  itself  while  struggling,  dashing  cold 
water  against  the  head  and  spine,  and  keeping  it  quiet  for  some 
time  after  recovery. 

Small  animals  are  very  liable  to  fits,  especially  dogs.  During 
the  attack  they  whine  or  yell,  struggle  convulsively,  foam  at  the 
mouth,  roll  their  eyes  about,  and  gnash  their  teeth,  &c. 

The  cause  or  causes  of  fits  are  often  very  obscure,  and  the 
veterinary  surgeon  must  be  left  to  ascertain  them  and  suggest 
measures  for  their  prevention. 

Fainting. — Fainting,  or  syncope,  is  comparatively  rare  among 
animals.  During  the  attack  they  lie  perfectly  still,  the  pulse  is  not 
much  altered,  the  breathing  is  tranquil,  and  there  are  scarcely  any 
symptoms  of  a  departure  from  ordinary  health,  except  the  state  of 
unconsciousness,  from  which  the  creature  cannot  be  aroused. 
Plenty  of  fresh  air,  sponging  of  the  face,  nostrils,  and  mouth  with 
cold  water,  pulling  the  tongue  well  fprward,  and,  if  the  animal 
wears  harness,  removing  all  those  portions  which  may  impede  the 
respiration  or  circulation,  are  the  chief  indications.  The  cause  of 
fainting  should  be  ascertained  by  the  veterinary  surgeon. 


VETERINARY   SURGEON    COMES.  Ill 

Stomach  Staggers. — The  stomach  derangement  which  gives 
rise  to  staggering  and  other  symptoms — due  to  disturbance  in  the 
circulation  or  nervous  system — usually  arises  from  inordinate  eat- 
ing causing  paralysis  of  the  stomach  and  functions  of  digestion — 
as  when  horses  get  to  the  corn-bin  during  the  night ;  from  con- 
suming various  articles  of  food  to  which  they  have  not  been 
accustomed — as  unripe  or  indigestible  vegetation  ;  or  from  the  con- 
sumption of  food  containing  some  noxious  principle. 

There  is  first  sluggishness  and  sleepiness — drowsiness  being  often 
manifested  during  eating,  the  eyelids  being  more  or  less  closed,  and 
the  eyes  dull.  The  belly  is  more  or  less  distended,  the  head  hangs 
heavy,  or  is  listlessly  laid  on  the  ground  if  the  animal  is  lying,  or 
on  the  manger  if  standing.  It  ceases  to  masticate  while  food  is 
yet  in  the  mouth,  and  when  compelled  to  move,  the  gait  is  stagger- 
ing, and  the  animal  stupidly  bores  forward  against  any  obstacle, 
instead  of  trying  to  avoid  it.  In  the  ox,  the  rumen  may  be  so 
extremely  distended  as  to  threaten  sufi"ocation.  If  not  relieved, 
violent  symptoms  supervene.  The  movements  become  wild  and 
disordered,  and  almost  incessant  during  the  paroxysms,  and  the 
animal  dasnes  itself  about,  heedless  of  the  pain  and  injury  it  may 
inflict  upon  itself,  and  rendering  approach  to  it  very  dangerous 
during  the  delirium. 

A  very  strong  purgative  should  be  at  once  administered,  com- 
bined with  a  stimulant — as  alcohol.  If  copious  enemas  can  be  given 
before  the  arrival  of  the  medical  attendant,  so  much  the  better. 
Abundant  affusion  of  cold  water  to  the  head,  or  the  application  of 
the  ice-bag,  must  also  be  resorted  to.  In  the  ox,  when  the  rumen  is 
greatly  distended,  it  should  be  punctured  to  allow  the  gas  to  escape. 

Colic. — There  are  two  kinds  of  colic — spasmodic,  and  flatulent 
or  tympanitic.  In  the  first  there  is  spasm  of  the  small  intestine, 
without  any  external  manifestation,  except  symptoms  of  pain ; 
whereas  in  the  second,  in  addition  to  the  pain,  the  belly  is  greatly 
distended,  and  this  distension  is  due  to  the  generation  of  gas  from 
indigestion,  or  to  the  animal  (if  a  horse)  swallowing  air,  as  in  crib- 
biting  or  wind-sucking. 

In  spasmodic  colic  the  attack  is  sudden,  the  horse  all  at  once 
exhibiting  uneasiness  in  pawing,  stamping  with  the  hind  feet,  or 
striking  with  them  at  the  belly,  looking  round  anxiously  towards 
the  flank,  crouching,  switching  the  tail,  throwing  himself  down, 
groaning,  rolling  over  on  his  back,  and,  if  the  pain  is  very  acute, 
appearing  distressed,  and  perspiring.  In  a  few  minutes  the  spasm 
passes  off,  the  horse  or  ox  appears  easy  for  a  longer  or  shorter 
period,  when  there  is  a  relapse,  and  similar  symptoms  are  again 
exhibited.  Neither  the  breathing  nor  the  pulse  is  disturbed,  except 
during  the  spasm.  ^ 


112  WHAT    TO   DO    BEFORE    THE 

The  dog  yells  and  moans  during  the  attack,  moves  uneasily  from 
place  to  place,  and  when  it  passes  off,  lies  down  and  curls  itself  up 
until  another  spasm  comes  on. 

Rubbing  the  belly  well,  applying  warmth  to  it  by  means  of  a 
hot  blanket  or  hot  water,  or  a  stimulating  liniment,  exercise  at  a 
slow  or  fast  pace,  the  exhibition  of  a  stimulant,  as  alcohol,  or  an 
anodyne,  as  laudanum,  usually  relieves  the  animal.  It  may  be 
necessary  to  administer  a  mild  castor  oil  or  linseed  oil  purgative, 
when  the  spasm  depends  upon  some  irritation  in  the  intestine,  and 
to  give  enemas. 

In  tympanitic  or  flatulent  colic  the  symptoms  are  similar,  and 
there  is  more  or  less  distension  of  the  belly,  with,  perhaps,  nausea 
and  labored  breathing,  as  well  as  stupor  when  the  distension  is 
great. 

If  the  tympany  is  due  to  crib-biting  or  wind-sucking,  rubbing 
the  belly  very  hard,  and  giving  exercise,  will  often  afford  relief. 
If  it  does  not,  or  if  the  attack  proceeds  from  indigestion,  then  a 
strong  stimulant  dose  must  be  given,  with  an  oil  or  other  purga- 
tive— the  treatment  being  something  the  same  as  in  spasmodic 
colic. 

In  attacks  of  colic — whether  spasmodic  or  flatulent — if  the 
symptoms  do  not  disappear  in  the  course  of  an  hour  or  two,  the 
veterinary  surgeon  should  be  sent  for,  as  serious  consequences  may 
follow. 

Inflammation  of  the  Bowels. — Inflammation  of  the  bowels 
may  supervene  on  colic,  or  arise  immediately  from  some  other 
cause.  The  symptoms  are  not  unlike  those  of  colic,  except  that 
the  pain  is  persistent,  the  animal  has  no  remissions,  but  it  lies  down 
more  carefully,  the  face  is  more  anxious  and  distressed-looking,  the 
body  is  more  or  less  covered  with  perspiration,  the  breathing  and 
pulse  are  hurried,  ears  and  legs  cold,  eyes  anxious  or  dull,  and  the 
belly  tender  on  pressure.  The  veterinary  surgeon  should  be  at 
once  sent  for,  and  until  he  arrives  very  hot  water  must  be  applied 
to  the  belly.  This  is  best  done  by  fastening  a  large  horse-blanket, 
doubled,  round  the  body,  close  to  the  skin,  and  pouring  the  hot 
water  on  the  outside  of  it  by  means  of  a  small  vessel — as  a  cup.  A 
pint  or  so  of  linseed  or  olive  oil  should  be  given,  with  flour  gruel, 
and  opium  (one  or  two  drachms  of  the  powder),  and  enemas  of 
warm  water. 

Poisoning. — Animals  are  poisoned  either  accidentally,  malici- 
ously, or  through  the  injudicious  administration  of  poisonous  sub- 
stances by  amateurs  and  empirics.  The  majority  of  poisons  are 
vegetable  or  mineral,  very  few  are  of  animal  origin. 

The  symptoms  produced  by  many  poisons  closely  resemble  those 
manifested  during  the  existence  of  some  diseases,  and  it  is  there- 


Veterinary  surgeon  comes.         113 

fore  often  very  difficult  even  for  a  higUy  skilled  person  to  decide 
whether  an  animal  is  suffering  from  the  effects  of  poison  or  is  labor- 
ing under  a  particular  disease. 

In  order  to  counteract  the  effects  of  a  poison,  not  only  must  it 
be  known  that  the  suffering  animal  has  been  poisoned,  but  the 
nature  of  the  poison,  and  consequently  its  antidote,  must  also  be 
known.  Considering  that  poisons  act  in  many  different  ways,  and 
affect  different  organs  or  tissues  in  the  body,  and  that  almost  every 
one  of  them  requires  a  different  kind  of  antidote,  it  will  be  seen 
that  a  great  amount  of  knowledge  is  required,  and  that  in  a  col- 
lection of  brief  notes  like  the  present  it  would  be  impossible  to 
describe  everything  relating  to  toxicology. 

When  poisoning  is  suspected,  the  veterinary  surgeon  should  at 
once  be  sent  for,  and  the  message  should  convey  information  as  to 
the  kind  of  poison  suspected,  and  the  symptoms.  Until  he  ap- 
pears, everything  ought  to  be  done  to  neutralize  the  injurious 
effects  and  alleviate  the  symptoms. 

Some  poisons  produce  diarrhoea  and  dysentery,  with  great  pain. 
To  ameliorate  these  symptoms,  and,  if  possible,  prevent  further 
local  action,  it  is  best  to  give  quantities  of  milk,  flour,  or  starch 
gruel,  thick  and  viscid,  eggs  beaten  up,  or  thick  broths  or  soups ; 
while  to  allay  the  pain  large  doses  of  opium  powder,  or  watery 
infusion  of  opium,  should  be  administered.  These  articles  do  well 
for  many  mineral,  as  well  as  some  acrid  and  irritant  vegetable 
poisons.  If  acids  are  the  cause  of  poisoning,  alkalies — as  the  car- 
bonate of  potash  or  soda — should  be  given  in  large  quantities  of 
water,  in  addition  to  milk  or  flour  gruel ;  and  when  it  is  the  caustic 
alkalies — as  soda,  potash,  or  ammonia,  then  weak  acids,  as  vinegar 
and  water,  should  be  administered  with  the  above-mentioned  de- 
mulcents. 

In  poisoning  by  strychnia,  which  is  not  at  all  uncommon,  the 
symptoms  are  very  marked,  there  being  most  painful  spasms  of  all 
the  muscles  at  intervals,  which  bend  the  body  backwards  and 
stiffen  the  limbs,  while  the  animal  is  quite  conscious.  An  infiision 
of  tobacco  is  the  best  and  most  convenient  remedy.  Warm  baths, 
and  the  administration  of  chloral,  or  inhalation  of  chloroform,  are 
also  useful. 

Phosphorus  paste  is  not  infrequently  accidentally  swallowed  by 
animals — as  dogs  and  cats — being  used  for  killing  rats.  There  is 
vomiting,  and  the  vomit  is  dark,  and  has  a  luminous  appearance  in 
the  dark,  and  it,  as  well  as  the  breath  and  fasces,  has  the  peculiar 
odor  of  phosphorus.  There  is  great  constitutional  derangement 
and  thirst.  With  this  poison,  all  oily  fluids,  as  well  as  broth  and 
soup,  should  not  be  administered,  but,  instead,  large  quantities  of 
solution  of  potash,  magnesia,  or  soda. 


114  WHAT    TO    DO   BEFORE    THE 

When  there  is  much  prostration  or  collapse,  stimulants  should 
be  given  and  external  warmth  applied. 

Parturition. — The  females  of  the  domestic  animals  do  not 
require  the  same  arrangements  and  care  as  the  period  of  parturi- 
tion draws  near,  or  when  that  act  has  commenced,  as  does  woman. 
As  a  rule,  they  bring  forth  their  young  without  assistance,  and  if 
properly  fed  and  sheltered  need  but  little  attention  otherwise.  The 
larger  animals,  and  especially  the  cow,  are  liable  to  expel  their 
young  before  the  full  period  of  pregnancy  has  been  reached,  and  this 
so-called  abortion  is  sometimes  a  serious  misfortune,  particularly 
when  it  occurs  in  a  place  where  there  are  many  pregnant  cows ;  as 
when  the  accident  happens  to  one,  it  may  extend  to  all,  or  nearly 
all  When  abortion  takes  place  at  a  comparatively  early  period, 
the  effects  are  not  very  damaging  to  the  animal,  but  every  precau- 
tion should  at  once  be  adopted  to  prevent  its  neighbors  from  abor- 
ting. With  this  object,  they  should  all,  if  possible,  be  immediately 
moved  from  the  shed  in  which  the  accident  has  occurred — no  con- 
tact or  approach  being  allowed  between  them  and  the  patient,  nor 
should  people  or  utensils,  or  anything  else,  be  allowed  to  pass  be- 
tween the  infected  shed  and  the  yet  unaffected  cows.  The  acci- 
dent should  be  treated  as  if  it  were  a  highly  infectious  disease ; 
disinfectants  must  be  freely  employed,  the  foetus  and  all  the  mem- 
branes and  discharges  must  be  disinfected  and  buried,  and  injec- 
tions of  some  mild  disinfectant — as  a  weak  solution  of  Condy's 
fluid,  or  carbolic,  should  be  made  into  the  vagina  of  the  cow  which 
has  aborted.  The  same  procedure  should  be  adopted  in  the  case 
of  sheep.  If  many  animals  abort,  the  veterinary  surgeon  should 
be  sent  for  to  ascertain  the  cause,  as  well  as  to  report  upon  the 
general  health  of  those  animals  which  are  not  yet  involved. 

If  there  is  any  unusual  delay  in  an  animal  bringing  forth  its 
young,  there  is  something  amiss  with  it;  or  the  young  creature  is 
not  in  a  proper  position,  or  is  defective  or  distorted  in  shape. 

No  time  should  be  lost  in  sending  for  the  veterinary  surgeon 
when  this  delay  takes  place.  Nothing  is  more  pernicious  or  dan- 
gerous than  waiting  too  long,  or  allowing  unskilled  persons  to  inter- 
fere ;  as  the  strength  of  the  parent  may  be  exhausted,  and  the  life 
of  the  progeny  sacrificed,  by  undue  delay ;  or  irreparable  damage, 
or  even  a  fatal  result,  may  follow  injudicious  meddling  or  rough 
interference.  More  particularly  is  this  the  case  with  the  mare — 
an  animal  which  must  foal  quickly,  which  is  most  difficult  to  aid 
when  there  is  any  obstacle,  and  which  readily  succumbs  when  aid 
is  too  long  deferred,  or  when  it  is  improperly  attempted  to  be  ren- 
dered. The  natural  presentation — in  the  larger  animals  at  least — 
is  with  the  fore  limbs,  the  feet  coming  first,  and  the  nose  between 
the  arms.     When  the  water-bag  has  appeared  and  burst,  and  after 


VETERINARY    SURGEON   COMES.  115 

some  time  there  are  no  signs  of  the  young  creature,  then  difficulty 
in  birth  should  be  apprehended,  and  skilled  assistance  should  be 
sent  for.  Until  it  arrives,  the  parent  should  be  kept  quiet,  and 
gruel,  or  other  light  sustaining  food,  offered  from  time  to  time,  to 
keep  up  her  strength.  If  the  amateur  has  sufficient  knowledge 
and  confidence,  an  examination  might  be  made,  the  hand  and  arm 
being  smeared  with  oil ;  but  on  no  account  should  forcible  attempts 
to  extract  the  young  creature  be  resorted  to.  If  the  head  or  one 
or  both  fore-legs  be  doubled  back,  then  the  indication  is  to  bring 
them  forward  into  the  passage ;  if  the  hind-quarters  present,  and 
the  hocks  only  are  in  the  passage,  then  the  buttocks  should  be 
pushed  forward,  so  that  the  legs  can  be  extended,  and  the  feet 
carried  outwards.  Beyond  these  directions  we  cannot  go,  as  there 
is  perhaps  no  more  difficult  section  of  the  veterinary  surgeon's  art 
than  that  pertaining  to  the  delivery  of  animals  in  parturition;  and 
we  have  before  us  hundreds  of  instances  of  valuable  mares,  cows, 
BOWS,  and  bitches,  which  were  tortured  and  lost  through  amateur 
efforts  to  extract  the  young.  Only  too  often  this  interference  ren- 
ders what  would  be  an  easily  remedied  mal-presentation  by  the 
veterinary  surgeon,  one  altogether  beyond  hope. 

And  even  when  birth  has  taken  place  the  danger  is  not  over. 
The  membranes  (after  birth)  must  come  away  soon  after  the  young 
creature,  and  when  they  are  retained  too  long  serious  consequences 
may  ensue.  Their  removal  also  requires  the  intervention  of  the 
veterinary  surgeon,  though  the  injection  of  warm  water,  and  gentle 
traction  at  the  portion  which  is  accessible,  may  enable  the  owner  of 
the  animal  to  effect  their  displacement. 

The  cow  is  specially  liable,  after  giving  birth,  to  what  is  known 
as  "  dropping  after  calving  "  (parturient  apoplexy)  :  a  serious  con- 
dition, which,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  runs  a  rapidly  fatal 
course.  The  symptoms  appear  within  from  one  to  four  or  five 
days  after  calving,  and  the  earliest  is  the  diminution  in  the  quan- 
tity of  milk ;  the  animal  then  appears  to  be  dull,  does  not  eat  or 
ruminate,  becomes  uneasy,  and  stamps  with  the  hind  feet ;  soon 
the  breathing  is  quickened ;  staggering  is  observed,  and  she  falls, 
and  rapidly  lapses  into  a  deep  coma,  after  throwing  her  head  about 
wildly.  Cows  which  are  "  deep  milkers  "  should  always  be  watched 
for  this  disease,  and  whenever  the  earliest  symptoms  appear  a  good 
dose  of  purgative  medicine  should  be  given,  combined  with  a  stimu- 
lant— as  alcohol,  or  spirits  of  ammonia — and  cold  water  applied  in 
a  full  stream  to  the  head.  Medicine  must  be  given  promptly,  for 
in  a  short  time  the  power  of  swallowing  is  lost. 

Contagious  Diseases. — Contagious  diseases  are  generally  so 
serious  when  they  appear  among  animals,  and  the  ravages  of  some 
of  them  are  so  great,  that  every  one  who  keeps  such  animals 


116  WHAT   TO   IK)    BEFORE,   ETC. 

should  possess  some  knowledge  of  the  earliest  symptoms  of  these 
catching  disorders,  not  necessarily  that  the  diseases  may  be  sub- 
mitted to  medical  treatment — for  some  of  them  are  not  allowed  by 
Government  to  be  treated,  while  others  are  incurable — but  that 
steps  may  be  taken  to  prevent  their  spreading.  Whenever  any 
suspicious  symptoms  of  disease  appear,  therefore,  the  animal  should 
be  carefully  isolated — at  least  from  others  of  the  same  species — and 
the  veterinary  surgeon  sent  for. 


TABLES  OF  PEDIGREES  OF  FAMOUS  HORSES. 


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146 


A  MORAL  FOR  HORSEMEN. 


It  was  a  mournful  little  procession  wbicli  j&led  out  of  the  barn 
and  took  its  way  along  the  lane  towards  the  pasture.  First  came 
Azariah,  with  the  old  musket.  Then  followed  Thad,  leading  a 
horse,  tall,  gaunt  and  aged ;  and  in  the  rear,  with  a  shovel  over 
his  shoulder,  plodded  old  Benjamin  Hemiuway,  the  owner  of  the 
farm. 

No  one  said  anything,  but  all  three  of  the  men  glanced  furtively 
at  the  house,  and  Thad  carefully  steered  old  Prince  around  some 
outcroppingledges  where  his  shoes  would  have  been  likely  to  make 
a  noise.     When  they  reached  the  pasture  they  halted. 

"  I  s'pose  we  might's  well  pull  his  shoes  off,"  suggested  Azariah. 

"  Yes,"  said  Thad.  "  Three  of  'em's  nearly  new  and  the  other 
ain't  much  worn.     I  brought  the  hammer  along." 

He  handed  it  to  his  brother,  who  took  it  and  began  to  pry  off 
the  old  horse's  shoes. 

While  the  group  was  occupied  with  this  task  a  voice  broke  in 
upon  them.  A  little  old  lady  had  come  quietly  up  the  lane,  and 
now  stood  nervously  twisting  her  apron  and  regarding  them  with 
reproachful  eyes.  The  men  dropped  the  hammer  and  the  two 
shoes  they  had  removed,  and  stood  silent  and  shamefaced. 

"  Father,"  said  the  old  lady,  laying  her  hand  on  her  husband's 
arm,  "you  know  how  I've  felt  about  this  all  along.  The  more  I 
think  of  it  the  wickeder  it  seems.     I  just  can't  stand  it !  " 

"  There,  now,  mother,  don't  take  it  so  hard.  It  ain't  pleasant, 
I  know,  but  what's  a  body  goin'  to  do?  He's  past  any  kind  o' 
work,  an'  it  costs  something  to  keep  him.  Besides,  the  boys  are  all 
the  time  complainin'." 

"  Well,"  broke  in  Thad,  "  we  have  to  cut  up  all  his  fodder  an* 
take  milk  to  him  every  day,  and  he's  forever  getting  into  the  corn- 
field or  the  garden." 

"  Thaddy,  it  ain't  what  he  is  now,  but  what  he's  been  that  I'm 
thinking  about,"  said  the  boy's  mother.  "  You  don't  remember,  as 
I  do,  how  he  worked  here  on  the  farm  year  after  year,  an'  how 

-     147 


148  •    A    MORAL   FOR    HORSEMEN. 

willin'  and  gentle  he  always  was.  You  don't  think  of  the  time 
when  your  father  had  the  mail  contract,  and  old  Prince  travelled 
his  forty  miles  a  day,  week  in  and  week  out,  summer  an'  winter; 
or  the  day  when  the  limb  fell  from  the  tree  on  the  mountain  road, 
and  knocked  your  father  senseless  in  the  bottom  of  the  sleigh. 
How  long  would  he  have  lived  in  that  cold,  or  where  would  you  or 
any  of  us  be,  if  Prince  hadn't  brought  him  home?" 

Thad  was  idly  kicking  a  hole  in  the  sod  with  the  toe  of  his 
heavy  boot,  and  Azariah  shifted  the  musket  uneasily  from  his 
shoulder  to  the  ground.     The  old  lady  went  on  : 

"  Father,  old  Prince  has  done  his  share  to  help  us  pay  for  the 
farm.  He  wouldn't  owe  us  anything  for  board  if  he  lived  fifty 
years  longer;  but  if  he's  got  to  be  killed  because  you  think  we  can't 
afford  to  keep  him,  I've  got  something  to  say.  Here's  eighteen 
dollars.  It's  my  butter  money,  an'  I've  been  savin'  it  to  carpet  the 
parlor  with,  but  never  mind.  It'll  pay  for  Prince's  keep  while  it 
lasts,  and  there'll  be  more  when  that's  gone." 

A  crimson  flush  crept  into  the  old  man's  sunburned  face. 
"  Stop,  mother,  stop !  "  he  said.  "  I'm  a  selfish  brute,  an'  I'm 
ashamed  of  myself,  but  I  ain't  so  mean  as  that !  Old  Prince  has 
earned  the  right  to  fodder  and  good  care  the  rest  of  his  life,  as  you 
say,  an'  he  shall  have  it  if  he  lives  to  be  a  hundred  !  Thad,  Az'- 
riah,  you  go  put  him  into  the  four-acre  clover  lot;  an'  if  either  of 
you  pester  me  again  'bout  killin'  him,  I'll  take  one  o'  them  new 
tug  straps  an'  make  you  dance  livelier'n  Prince  ever  did  when  he 
was  a  four-year-old." — Youth's  Companion. 


VALUABLE  BOOKS 

ON  THE 

HORSE 


PUBLISHED  BY 


HENET  T.  COATES  &  CO., 

No.  1222  Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia. 


The  Trotting  Horse  of  America :  how  to  Train  and  Drive 
Him,  with  Keminiscences  of  the  Trotting  Turf.  By  Hiram  Wood- 
ruff. Edited  by  Charles  J.  Foster.  Including  an  Introductory 
Notice  by  George  Wilkes  and  a  Biographical  Sketch  by  the  Editor. 
Revised  and  Enlarged,  with  a  copious  Index.  With  a  steel  portrait 
of  the  author  and  six  engravings  on  wood  of  celebrated  trotters. 
12mo.     Cloth,  extra,  |L00. 

"The  author  of  this  work  stood  at  the  head  of  his  profession  as  a  trainer  and 

driver  of  the  trotting  horse To  horsemen  in  particular  the  book  will  be  found 

especially  attractive  and  of  great  value.  It  will  become  a  standard  authority  on 
the  subject  of  which  it  treats."— iV.  Y.  Herald. 

"The  record  of  his  experience  and  suggestions  constitutes,  therefore,  a  valuable 
accession  to  our  knowledge,  and  will  prove  to  be  of  standard  authority  among  the 
most  skillful.  The  graphic  style  of  his  descriptions,  the  vivid  pictures  he  draws  of 
the  breeding  and  education  of  his  favorites,  and  the  reminiscences  he  recalls  of  in- 
cidents on  the  turf,  form  a  work  of  great  merit Those  who  are  desirous  to 

form  an  accurate  idea  of  the  characteristics  of  the  trotting  horse,  for  their  benefit  as 
riders  or  drivers,  cannot  find  any  other  work  in  our  language  so  replete  with  use- 
ful information,  interesting  hints,  and  readable  anecdotes.  Hiram  Woodruff  is 
now  dead,  and  it  will  be  many  a  year  before  we  shall  look  upon  his  equal  in  his  line 
of  business." — The  JVaHon,  New  York. 

"This  is  a  masterly  treatise  by  the  master  of  his  profession,— the  ripened  product 
of  forty  years'  experience  in  handling,  training,  riding  and  driving  the  trotting 
horse.  There  is  no  book  like  it,  in  any  language,  on  the  subject  on  which  it  treats. 
It  is  accepted  as  authority  by  the  owners  of  racinn;  trotters  and  fast  roadsters.  Its 
publication  has  been  hailed  by  gentlemen  as  critically  appreciative  as  Robert 
Bonner,  and  by  trainers  and  drivers  as  distinguished  as  Sam  Hoagland,  Dan  Mace 
and  Dan  Pfifer.  The  book  is  unquestionably  one  of  great  value;  for,  in  America 
and  England,  the  development  of  the  horse  has  long  been  considered  second  only 
in  importance  to  the  development  of  man.  This  work  contains  the  results  of  forty 
years'  uninterrupted  labor  in  bringing  the  trotter  up  to  the  highest  speed  and  the 
greatest  endurance  of  which  he  is  capable.  Before  we  read  it  we  had  seen  with 
curious  surprise  very  hearty  commendation  of  it  and  eulogy  of  its  author  in  the 
leading  Presbyterian,  Baptist  and  Methodist  journals.  No  wonder,  for  Hiram 
Woodrutt's  system  is  based  on  the  law  of  love." — iV.  Y,  Tribune. 

"  Hiram  Woodruff  was  the  great  trainer  of  his  day;  but,  by  his  unsullied  integ- 
rity and  unequalled  capacity,  he  rose  above  his  profession.  No  man  could  ever  say 
of  him  that  he  had  his  price.  Indeed,  it  is  the  universal  testimony  of  all  who 
knew  him — friends  and  foes — that  his  integrity  was  absolutely  unassailable.  In 
this  work,  which  has  been  ably,  carefully  and  judiciously  edited  by  his  faithful 
friend,  Mr.  Charles  J.  Foster,  are  recorded  for  the  benefit  of  the  public  at  large 
his  life-long  experiences,  his  sayings  and  doings,  his  authoritative  views  on  almost 
everything  pertaining  to  the  horse.  It  is  a  book  for  which  every  man  who  owns  a 
horse  ought  to  subscribe.  The  information  which  it  contains  is  worth  ten  times  its 
cost." — Mr.  Bonner^s  Neiv  York  Ledger, 


The  Horse  in  the  Stable  and  the  Field:  his  Management 
in  Health  and  Disease.  By  J.  H.  Walsh,  F.R.C.S.  ("Stonehenge"). 
With  an  Essay  on  the  American  Trotting  Horse,  and  Suggestions  on 
the  Breeding  and  Training  of  Trotters.  By  Ellwood  Harvey,  M.D. 
Illustrated  with  over  eighty  illustrations,  and  full-page  engravings. 
12mo.     Cloth,  extra,  bevelled  boards,  |1.00. 

"  It  sustains  its  claim  to  be  the  only  work  which  has  brought  together  in  a  single 
volume,  and  in  clear,  concise  and  comprehensive  language,  adequate  intormatiou 
on  the  various  subjects  of  which  it  treats."— Har])er's  Magazine. 

"A  very  comprehensive  treatise  on  that  noble  animal,  in  which  the  work  of 
several  hands  has  been  well  employed.  The  basis  of  the  book  is  an  English  work 
by  J.  H.  Walsh  ('Htonehenge'),  which  has  been  carefully  edited  for  American 
readers  by  Dr.  Robert  McClure,  and  enriched  by  an  appendix  on  the  American 
Trotter,  by  Dr.  Ellwood  Harvey,  of  Chester,  Pa.  All  these  gentlemen  are  at  home 
on  the  questions  they  write  about,  and  have  availed  themselves  freely  of  the  writ- 
ings of  others,  so  that  the  book  condenses  the  wisdom  of  a  whole  library  within 
itself.  It  is  as  entertaining  as  most  novels  are,  and  as  original  and  independent  in 
its  speculations  on  many  points  as  Huxley  or  Darwin  are." — Springfield  (Mass.) 
Repiihlican. 

"  It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  this  is  a  book  worth  having.  Certainly  no  one 
who  owns  a  good  horse,  and  is  fit  to  own  him,  will  ever  regret  buying  it."— Hart- 
Jord  CoiLranU 

"It  holds  a  high  rank  among  the  works  on  the  subject  in  England,  and  the  Amer- 
ican edition  is  enriched  by  the  instructive  notes  of  the  editor  and  an  Essay  on  the 
American  Trottiug  Horse,  by  Ellwood  Harvey,  M.D.  The  various  information  con- 
tained in  this  volume,  with  its  appropriate  illustrations,  makes  it  a  valuable  work 
for  the  library  of  the  farmer  or  horse  fancier."— A'e«'  York  Daily  Tribune. 

"  One  of  the  best  English  books  about  the  Horse,  improved  and  expanded,  to 
adapt  it  to  the  American  public,  by  competent  native  writers;  so  much  improved 
tliat  years  must  pass  before  it  can  be  bettered.  Portraits  of  our  leading  trotters, 
copied  from  life  and  photographs,  are  finely  engraved  on  wood,  and  their  pedigrees 
are  given  in  a  new  method,  wliich  shows  the  lines  of  descent  at  a  glance.  The 
work  is  complete."— TAe  Press,  Pliiladelphia. 

"This  is  an  English  work  of  acknowledged  authority.  It  has  been  thoroughly 
revised  and  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  American  farmer  and  amateur.  Dr. 
McClure,  the  American  editor,  is  the  well-known  author  of  *The  Diseases  of  the 
American  Stable,  Field  and  Farmyard.'  .  .  .  Gives  sound  instruction  upon  all 
the  points  that  every  horse-owner  will  occasionally  need  to  refer  to.  Every  man 
who  owns  a  horse  should  also  own  this  book.  It  will  be  worth  many  times  its  cost 
to  him  every  year.  The  publishers  have  issued  it  in  a  very  substantial  and  credit- 
able biylQ." ^American  Farmer,  Baltimore. 

Encyclopsedia  of  Rural  Sports.  Comprising  Shooting,  Hunt- 
ing, Fishing,  Boating,  Yachting,  Racing,  Athletics,  Cricket,  Base  Ball, 
etc.,  and  the  Various  Rural  Games  and  Amusements  of  Great  Britain 
and  America.  By  J.  H.  Walsh  ("Stonehenge"),  author  of  "The 
Horse  in  the  Stable  and  the  Field,"  etc.,  etc.  Illustrated  with  150  fine 
engravings.  Thick  crown  8vo.  Cloth,  black  and  gold.  Size,  Q\  by  8 
inches.     $2.00. 

"  The  work  is  not  only  a  guide  to  all  manly  pursuits,  but  treats  of  them  in  such  a 
complete  and  exhaustive  manner  as  to  meet  every  possible  requirement."— A'isti;- 
castle  Chronicle. 

"Boys  and  men,  sportsmen,  farmers,  and  all  to  whom  the  horse  and  the  doer  are 
dear,  will  find  in  the  'Rural  Sports'  a  perfect  treasury  of  information," — The  Hour^ 
London. 

"  A.  C.  M.,  Austin,  Nev.— Please  inform  me  which  is  the  best  book  on  training 
horses  for  all  distances,  the  price  of  the  l»ook,  where  to  obtain  it,  etc.  Also,  the  best 
veterinary  book,  price,  and  where  to  obtain  it.  Answer:  *  Rural  Sports  of  England,' 
by  Stonehenge,  will  supply  the  first;  and  'The  Horse,'  by  Stonehenge,  will  answer 
for  the  last  about  as  well  as  2ii\y:'—SpirU  of  the  Times,  New  York. 


3 

The  Gentleman's  Stable  Guide:  Containing  a  Familiar  De- 
scription of  the  American  Stable;  the  most  approved  method  of  Feed- 
ing, Grooming  and  General  Management  of  Horses ;  together  with  Di- 
rections for  the  Care  of  Carriages,  Harness,  etc.  By  Egbert  Mc- 
Clure,  M.D.,  V.S.     Illustrated.     16mo.    Cloth,  extra,  |1.00. 

"Such  a  treatise  has  been  needed  for  years,  and  we  think  this  volume  will  supply 
the  want.     Tlie  illustrations  are  very  good  and  timely."— Pitlsburyk  Daily  Gazette. 

"The  book  contains  a  fauiiliar  description  of  the  American  stable,  the  most  ap- 
proved method  of  feeding,  grooming  and  general  management  of  horses;  together 
with  directions  for  the  care  of  carriages,  harness,  etc.  The  whole  is  founded  on  the 
careful  study  and  experience  of  many  years  of  the  author's  life,  and  forms  a  valuable 
manual  for  any  one  who  has  charge  of  the  noblest  of  man's  irrational  servants.  Its 
low  price  and  great  value  should  give  it  general  circulation  among  horsemen." — In- 
diana Farmer. 

"  Farmers  and  horsemen  will  find  this  an  invaluable  addition  to  their  libraries. 
All  is  elucidated  in  such  a  way  that  no  one  need  plead  ignorance  as  to  the  duties  of 
grooms  and  the  requirements  of  the  stable — the  quantity  and  quality  of  food  the 
horse  requires,  and  how  to  prepare  it,  together  with  the  effects  which  may  be  ex- 
pected."— Herald,  Mansfield,  Ohio. 

"  This  is  a  book  on  one  of  the  most  popular  and  least  understood  of  everyday 
subjects.  The  writer  is  a  practical  horseman,  a  veterinarian  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  whole  philosophy  of  horseflesh.  The  book  is  as  entertaining  as  useful, 
and  will  repay  a  careful  reading.  Horse  fanciers  can  find  much  in  the  book  really 
servicealde,  and  farmers  might  save  themselves  much  vexation  and  loss  by  heeding 
its  practicable  and  experienced  suggestions." — Rochester  Democrat, 

Diseases  of  the  Horse  and  How  to  Treat  Them.  A  concise 
Manual  of  Special  Pathology,  for  the  use  of  Horsemen,  Farmers, 
Stock  Raisers  and  Students  in  Agricultural  Colleges.  By  Robert 
Chawner.    Illustrated.     12mo.     Cloth,  ^1.25. 

"  It  is  an  unpretending  treatise,  free  from  technicalities,  and  well  adapted  for  the 
use  of  farmers  and  stock  raisers.  The  object  of  Dr.  Chawner  was  to  make  a  popu- 
lar and  reliable  handbook  on  that  department  of  veterinary  science  which  treats  of 
the  horse  and  his  diseases,  and  in  this  oljject  he  has  succeeded  and  supplied  a  prac- 
tical want.  There  is  no  extraneous  matter.  Information  is  imparted  with  com- 
mendable brevity,  and  in  language  plain  and  simple  enough  to  be  understood  by 
all.  The  fallacies  of  the  old  school  are  rejected,  and  the  treatment  prescribed  is  that 
of  modern  practitioners." — Turf,  Field  and  Farm,  New  York. 

"Those  who  have  a  use  for  it  do  not  have  to  wade  through  a  multitude  of  pages 
to  find  out  what  is  to  be  done  in  a  given  contingency." — Cincinnati  Commercial, 

The  Practical  Horse  Keeper.  By  George  Fleming,  LL.D., 
F.R.C.V.S.  A  Guide  to  those  who  have  to  do  with  Horses,  contain- 
ing chapters  on  Breeding,  Purchasing,  Stable  and  Stabling,  Feeding, 
General  Management,  Riding,  Hunting,  Breaking  and  Training,  Har- 
ness and  Driving,  Shoeing  and  Diseases  of  the  Foot,  Injuries,  Lame- 
ness, Diseases  of  the  Horse,  the  Ass  and  Mule,  etc.  12mo.  Cloth, 
75  cents. 

The  Horse.  By  William  Youatt.  Together  with  a  Gen- 
eral History  of  the  Horse  and  a  Dissertation  on  the  American  Trot- 
ting Horse,  and  an  essay  on  the  Ass  and  the  Mule.  By  J.  S.  Skinner. 
With  an  engraving  on  steel  and  58  illustrations  on  wood.     Cloth,  extra, 

$1.00. 

"  His  works  are  standard  authorities  in  England  and  America."— Allibone's 
Dictionary  of  Authors, 


Horse-Breeding   Recollections.     By   Count   George    Lehn- 

DORFF.     8vo.     Cloth,  11.00. 

"  Every  one  interested  in  horses  ought  to  own  a  copy  of  this  valuable  vade 
mecum." — Maryland  Farmer. 

"  Count  Lehndortf's  book  is  not  only  intelligent,  but  intelligible." — Chicago 
Herald. 

"A  richly  illustrated  and  finely  prepared  work,  with  elaborate  tables  and  statis- 
tics on  breeding  race-horses.  It  is  issued  in  elegant  form,  and  is  recognized  as 
authority  by  horsemen." — Ohio  State  Journal. 

"Count  Lehndorft;  the  manager  of  the  Go'verninent  stud  of  Germany,  has  made 
a  special  study  of  the  intricacies  of  horse-breeding.  The  recital  of  his  experiences 
and  the  suggestions  which  he  furnishes  will  undoubtedly  prove  of  value  to  all  who 
are  interested  in  equine  matters.  The  book  is  illustrated  by  engravings  of  some  of 
the  most  celebrated  favorites  of  the  race-course."— Pm6Wc  Record,  Philadelphia. 

The  Horse  of  America  in  his  Derivation,  History  and  De- 
velopment. Tracing  his  ancestors,  by  the  aid  of  much  newly-dis- 
covered data,  through  all  the  ages  from  the  first  dawnings  of  history  to 
the  present  day,  including  the  horses  of  the  Colonial  period,  hitherto 
unexplored,  giving  their  history,  size,  gaits  and  characteristics  in  each 
of  the  American  colonies,  showing  how  the  trotting  horse  is  bred,  to- 
gether with  a  history  of  the  publications  through  which  the  breed  of 
trotters  was  established.  With  maps  and  illustrations.  By  John  H. 
Wallace,  founder  of  Wallace's  "American  Trotting  Eegister," 
"Wallace's  Monthly,"  "Wallace's  Year  Book,"  etc.  8vo.  Cloth, 
$3.00. 

A  Short  History  of  the  American  Trotting  and  Pacing  Horse. 
With  Tables  of  Pedigrees  of  Famous  Horses,  Useful  Hints,  Sugges- 
tions and  Opinions  on  Training  and  Conditioning,  compiled  from 
various  sources.  Rules  for  Track  Laying,  etc.,  by  Henry  T.  Coaxes  ; 
The  American  Trotting  Turf  in  1899  and  1900,  by  A.  M.  Gillam,  and 
What  to  Do  before  the  Veterinary  Surgeon  Comes,  by  George  Flem- 
ing, F.  R.  C. V.  S.  The  book,  besides  treating  of  Driving  Horses,  gives  a 
condensed  history  of  the  best  horses  in  this  country,  with  mention 
of  their  best  performances.  It  is  invaluable  in  its  suggestions  to 
horse  trainers,  and  is  the  latest  book  on  this  subject  published.  Illus- 
trated with  six  pictures  from  photographs  from  life.  12mo.  Cloth, 
75  cents. 


"^/^bster  Family  Library  d  Veterinary  MeOks^ 

Cummings  Schoo?  of  Veterinary  Mddlani#  a^ 

Tufts  University 

200  Westboro  Road 

Morth  Grafton,  MA  01^^ 


